


(Please Don't) Betray Me

by ParadiseAvenger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Blackmail, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Partner Betrayal, Secret Identity Fail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22402657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadiseAvenger/pseuds/ParadiseAvenger
Summary: Hawk Moth discovered Chat Noir's identity and used it to turn the once-hero to his side. Yet Chat Noir couldn't figure out why Ladybug was still being kind to him when the only person he told was Marinette.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 142
Kudos: 381





	1. Arrow (Through My Heart)

I wrote most of this back when I was working on 'Barred Windows, Locked Doors' so that was before the reveal of Hawk Moth's identity. The real question here is, did I keep the original character I created as Hawk Moth or did I switch everything over to align with canon? Only time will tell.

XXX

Ladybug slid desperately into cover just as magical arrows ricocheted off the concrete where she had been standing. The rooftop disintegrated into a spray of stinging debris. Panting for breath, she pressed her back against the makeshift shield of a crumbling chimney. She flipped open her yoyo and thumbed to Chat Noir’s icon again, trying to contact her partner for what felt like the tenth time in three minutes. Their connection rang once before disconnecting to his voicemail. Ladybug had already left three messages and she highly doubted one more was going to help right now.

“Where is he?” she muttered and hazarded a little peek over the mortared barrier at the akumatized villain.

La Flèche(1) was a formidable foe and had already wrecked four blocks surrounding the archery competition in the park. She wore an overblown version of her archery uniform, carried a massive quiver filled with an unlimited supply of arrows, and a comically large blackened bow. Unlike Hawk Moth’s other akumas, this one had true skills that carried over into her new villainous form. Ladybug had been on the ropes for a few harrowing moments. She could really use Chat Noir’s reflexes and assistance.

Ladybug highly doubted that Chat Noir didn’t know there was an akuma on the loose. If he was transformed and on his way to meet her, why wouldn’t he pick up? Maybe Chat Noir’s civilian identity had been trapped by the attack or maybe he—like her, had gotten detention for missing so much school—couldn’t get away from his responsibilities. Maybe he had been hurt before he could transform, maybe he was—

Ladybug sucked in a little breath. She fought back her worries and hyped herself up to do this on her own. If Chat Noir had been hurt, hero or no, the only thing that would help him was her Miraculous Cure. Ladybug tried to call him one more time, but it was the same result.

She snapped her compact shut and peered over the barricade at La Flèche. It would be difficult without Chat Noir at her side but not impossible. She still hadn’t used her Lucky Charm and she was pretty sure the akuma was in the quiver or the bow—or, on second thought, maybe the unfair Second Place medal. Now, all she needed to do was get close enough to test her theory without being turned into a red-and-black pincushion.

“Miss me, milady?”

Ladybug let out a breath of relief she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Chat, there you are—”

The tips of his claws touched her earlobe, dipping in underneath her earring—underneath her Miraculous! The touch was gentle, almost hesitant, but Ladybug felt the wrongness of it. She ripped her attention from La Flèche and exploded out of her cover. She looked at Chat Noir as she vaulted away, putting some distance between them with the aid of her yoyo.

His familiar handsome face was almost white against his black mask, pale and sickly-looking, but there was no outward appearance that he had been compromised by an akuma or an effect of La Flèche’s arrows. His inky costume looked the same as always and his Miraculous appeared intact. He stared after her, watching as she landed on a distant building, green eyes luminous and glistening. She thought she saw him bite his lip, but they were so far apart that it was hard to really tell. He made no move to follow her, but he also didn’t move to help against La Flèche.

‘Why?’ Ladybug thought. ‘Why did he turn against me?’

“There you are!” La Flèche spotted her and unleashed a volley of stinging arrows.

Ladybug spun her yoyo to create a shield, blocking the onslaught. Her mind raced.

In her moment of distraction, Chat Noir used his staff to vault the space between them. He landed beside her, steps nearly-silent despite his heavy boots. Used to trusting him, it took a moment for Ladybug’s brain to remind her that he wasn’t safe—not right now. She angled the yoyo, blocking his approach and the arrows as one. She turned so that she could have both La Flèche and Chat Noir in her vision.

If she had any doubts, they were confirmed when La Flèche didn’t attack him. Chat Noir’s back was exposed to her and yet, she didn’t fire a single arrow into the opening. Chat Noir was working with Hawk Moth, he must have been, but why? Why had he turned on her? She saw Chat Noir’s expression flicker, his eyes momentarily squeezing shut, and realized she had spoken aloud. Her throat tightened, closed up around the words.

“My Lady,” he said softly. “I can’t explain. Please, give me your Miraculous. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Ladybug reeled back, horror clogging her throat. She hadn’t wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe this was some mistake. Chat Noir wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t turn on her, wouldn’t help Hawk Moth. He was her partner. He was—

She lashed her yoyo at him.

Chat Noir didn’t react to the attack. He let the blow land, cracking into the side of his face. He cried out in pain, immediately lifting a gloved hand to his cheek.

Ladybug retracted her yoyo, heart jackhammering. “Chat, I’m sorry—”

He blinked at her, green eyes sparkling like jewels. Then, he shook his head once and his face went steely. “Don’t apologize, milady,” he said and unfurled his staff to his typical fighting length. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ladybug’s breath caught behind her heart, suffocating her. It was all she could do to dodge his attacks combined with La Flèche’s. She didn’t want to hurt him. She had to get to the bottom of this and to do that, she had to get rid of La Flèche first. She tripped Chat Noir up, making him leap over the side of the building while she swung into the shelter of a chimney.

“Lucky Charm!” she shouted.

Her power culminated, pulling together in a shower of light to form an archery target. She gripped it tightly, eyes scanning for a plan while keeping a lookout for Chat Noir. He knew her well. He wouldn’t be fooled by her ploy for long. She had to use these precious seconds to take down La Flèche and cleanse the akuma. Maybe her miraculous ladybugs would fix whatever had caused Chat Noir to start working for Hawk Moth. She had to hope that they would.

Ladybug stepped out her hiding place with the archery target gripped in both hands and her yoyo around her waist. “La Flèche!” she called. Her voice echoed.

The archer appeared over the rooftops, bounding like a gazelle. Her teeth were bared.

“Bet you can’t hit this!” Ladybug shouted and hurled the target into the air.

La Flèche took the bait. She swung her bow around, firing three arrows in quick succession into the target. She whirled back to face Ladybug, a pleased grin on her painted mouth, and found that Ladybug had already closed the distance between them. She let out a startled cry as Ladybug grabbed the Second Place medal from around her neck. She threw it to the roof and stomped on it, cracking the surface and releasing the akuma.

Ladybug quickly snared the akuma in her yoyo and released a perfect white butterfly into the clear blue sky. Taking the expertly-speared target, she tossed it high and waited for the magic to fix everything. Usually, she would have spent the time to walk the civilian back to where everything had started, but she was too worried about Chat Noir. Swinging them both to the street below, Ladybug asked, “Can you get yourself home from here?”

The civilian nodded dazedly.

Ladybug’s earrings beeped in warning as she swung herself back onto the rooftops.

Immediately visible in the bright midday sunlight, making no effort to hide, Chat Noir was standing on a nearby rooftop. He was leaning on his staff, eyes closed and face placid.

Ladybug swung to land beside him, but kept a safe distance between them. “Chat?” she asked hesitantly.

His green eyes slid open. “Bravo, milady,” he said softly. “I knew you could do it.”

Relief curdled in her stomach. Something still wasn’t right.

Chat Noir hadn’t moved towards or away from her. He was just standing there, shoulders tight and tail twitching idly. His ears were pressed flat to his head, almost hidden in his golden hair. Up close, he looked exhausted. His face was pale against his mask and he looked thinner than usual.

“Chat?” she asked again.

With a heavy sigh, he folded his staff and stepped towards her.

Ladybug took a step back, matching him, not letting him get any closer.

Chat Noir huffed a sad little laugh. His smile was brittle, sharp, like something broken. “Please,” he said softly. “Give me your Miraculous and this will all be over.”

Ladybug’s eyes burned with tears. “Chat, why?”

He looked away, shame coloring his cheeks. “I can’t tell you. I just… I need your Miraculous. Please.” He stretched out his hand, the tips of his claws shining.

There was a time when Ladybug would have taken his hand without blinking, but she hesitated now. She searched his face.

“You trust me, don’t you?” he asked.

Her earrings beeped again. She had no time for this. “I can’t,” she said.

Ladybug unfurled her yoyo. She vaulted away as fast as she could, the buildings blurring around her. She swung wildly, without reason. If Chat Noir followed her, he couldn’t know her civilian identity—now more than ever. Her earrings beeped a final time and she stumbled as she landed in the alleyway near a crowded shopping mall. Dropping her transformation, Marinette quickly slipped Tikki into her bag and lost herself in the crowd. She walked around for the better part of an hour and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of her rogue partner, but it appeared that she had lost him…

In more ways than one.

Swallowing tears, Marinette exited the mall and boarded the bus for home. Seated, she cracked her bag open and mournfully asked Tikki, “What happened? He wasn’t akumatized. He was just…”

“I don’t know, Marinette,” Tikki said softly. She held the tip of Marinette’s finger between her little hands. “I don’t know.”

Marinette got out a cookie for Tikki, closed the bag, and sniffled. She stared mindlessly out the window, watching the rooftops for any sign of Chat Noir, until the bus stopped near her home. She walked briskly and let herself into the bakery unmolested. Only then did she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

“Marinette, there you are,” Sabine greeted. “I was worried about you. You didn’t answer any of my texts.”

Marinette accepted a warm vanilla-scented hug from her mother. “Sorry,” she said. “I got stuck on the other side of that akuma attack near the park.”

“I saw that on the news,” Sabine remarked. “How unfortunate. It looked like Chat Noir wasn’t able to help Ladybug at all.”

Marinette swallowed the stone in her throat. “Yeah,” she agreed. “He must have been hit by the akuma beforehand.”

Sabine nodded thoughtfully. “Well,” she said. “Ladybug fixed everything. It should be okay now.”

“I’m really tired,” Marinette said with a faked yawn. “It was scary. I’m going to get something to eat and go to bed early.”

“Okay, ma chérie.” Sabine pressed a lingering kiss to Marinette’s forehead.

Marinette excused herself, bypassed her father in the kitchen, and climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She settled Tikki in her little cocoon, turned on the television, and found herself caught by the repeating broadcast of the battle with La Flèche. It was easy to see that Chat Noir wasn’t simply ‘not helping’ Ladybug. He had been actively working with the akuma, with Hawk Moth—against Ladybug, against her. The sight was like a punch to Marinette’s stomach. She turned the television off again, stripped out of her sweaty clothes, and pulled on clean pajamas.

She would sew, she decided. Whenever her mind was tumultuous, there was nothing like the steady thrum of her sewing machine, the feeling of creation under her fingers, the satisfaction of a completed project. She would do something simple, maybe sew a few more rows of the quilt she was making for Alya’s birthday. Marinette laid out the squares and began to sew.

She was aware of Tikki moving around, turning on some relaxing music instead of the television before settling herself amidst the scraps of fabric near Marinette’s elbow. The little creature was a comfort through the strife that came with being Ladybug, her ageless dark eyes peering at Marinette over the cookie she nibbled to get her energy back up. Marinette absently reached out an unpricked finger to stroke the top of Tikki’s head. 

Before she knew it, the sun had sunk below the skyline and plunged Paris into a golden dusk. Tikki now slumbered beside the sewing machine, lulled by the steady drone and Marinette’s soft singing. Marinette tucked her into her little cocoon and stretched her arms above her head. She still felt hollowed out, Chat Noir’s betrayal leaving a void that couldn’t be filled, but she no longer felt ready to cry.

Needing some air after the night she had, Marinette stood on her bed so she could open the skylight and climb out onto her makeshift balcony. The twinkling colored lights she had strung up glowed warmly, casting her shadow, and she let out a deep breath. Resting her palms on the low iron railing, she looked out over Paris. The city was sleeping and beautiful, the distant spire of the Eiffel Tower stood proud, and almost all seemed right with the world. She swallowed the knot of emotions building up in her chest. Tomorrow, she promised herself.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed something out of place. It was a shadow, slender and hunched with pointed ears.

Her heart stopped.

Chat Noir had found her as a civilian.

Marinette almost screamed for Tikki, almost dove back through the open skylight, almost turned and ran.

She almost called out to him.

However, the moment for Chat Noir’s surprise attack passed and he didn’t move. In fact, he didn’t seem to see her at all. He was seated on the roof two houses away, his knees drawn up and his chin resting on his folded arms. He was staring out at Paris without appearing to search for Ladybug. Indeed, his profile was noble and handsome. The line of his nose, the downward curl of his lips, and the droop of his cat ears all spoke of sorrow.

Unbidden, Marinette thought of his words to her during the fight. ‘I can’t explain. Please, give me your Miraculous. I don’t want to hurt you.’

He hadn’t tried to hurt her. He had fought Ladybug, yes, but not with half of the fervor she knew he was capable of. He hadn’t even called for his Cataclysm. He could have hurt her, but he hadn’t. There was something more to this. Chat Noir wouldn’t just have betrayed her. She didn’t believe it.

Before she knew it, she opened her mouth and ventured, “Chat Noir?”

He jolted at the sound of her voice and his head snapped around to face her. She saw his lips shape her name, ‘Marinette?’

With a hand, she beckoned him.

He shook his head.

“Please?” she called.

His body language was bowed and hesitant. Chat Noir crept closer to her balcony but didn’t jump over as he once would have. He lingered on the opposite rooftop, braced as though expecting a blow or a slew of vitriol. “Something I can do for you, Princess?” he asked softly.

“I saw the news,” Marinette said.

Chat Noir flinched and turned to go.

“Wait!” Marinette protested.

He hesitated, shining green eyes staring out from the void of his mask.

“I… I don’t think you would just turn against Ladybug. Will you tell me… what happened?” Marinette ventured.

Chat Noir made a strangled sound. “I think you might be the only person in Paris who doesn’t think I’ve been rotten from the start.” His voice was low and hoarse like he had been crying.

Marinette’s heart constricted. “I… I don’t know what to think,” she admitted, “but I wanted to ask you what really happened.”

Chat Noir shifted, his shoulders vibrating as though he shivered in the night air. “I… can’t tell you,” he murmured.

“Why not?” Marinette asked.

Chat Noir glanced at her from beneath the fringe of his golden hair. His face was tormented.

Marinette found herself leaning hard against the railing, wanting to reach out to him, wanting to touch him, wanting to hold him close until this all blew over. “Chat,” she whispered.

He tiptoed closer, practically standing on the gutter to be close to her without setting foot on her balcony. “It’s…”

“Please,” Marinette said. She stretched out her hand. “Come here.”

Chat Noir heaved out a breath. His shoulders and hands trembled, his tail quivered, and his ears were pressed flat to his head. “I can’t,” he said. “I should go.”

“Chat!” Marinette protested. “Please!”

He hesitated again, his back turned to her.

“I don’t know what happened,” Marinette said slowly. She kept her voice measured, free of judgment, concerned instead of confused. “I don’t know what I saw on the news, but if this is a misunderstanding, I know the person who runs the Ladyblog. She can post something. We can get a message to Ladybug—”

Immediately, Chat Noir cleared the space between the houses in a single leap. He landed on her railing in a familiar crouch and slipped down to stand beside her. His boots thudded hollowly. “No!” he protested urgently.

Marinette held herself back from flinching. No matter what, this was still Chat Noir. He was a good person, he wouldn’t hurt a civilian, and he wouldn’t hurt her.

Chat Noir’s face was lined with fear, his jade eyes fever-bright. “It’s not safe for Ladybug. I’m not safe!”

Marinette couldn’t help but reach for him, stricken by the sight of him, of her partner, so upset.

Chat Noir reeled from her touch. “I’m not safe for you either,” he confessed.

“Why?” Marinette demanded. “What happened?”

“He’s listening,” Chat Noir said. He glanced over his shoulder and then at the street below, but Paris was quiet in the night. A single car rolled by, its tires whispering and its taillights splashing blood-red along the houses it passed. “He’s watching me. He’s always watching me now.”

“Who?” Marinette asked. Goosebumps crawled up her back, along her scalp, prickling with unease. “Who’s watching you?”

“Hawk Moth,” Chat Noir said softly. As soon as the words were out, he seemed to taste them like poison on his tongue. He clasped a gloved hand over his mouth in horror. His eyes were enormous and bright behind his mask, glittering with unshed tears.

All at once, Marinette wanted to grab him and pull him into her arms. “Chat,” she said slowly. She clenched her hands against the urge. “What happened?”

“I have to go,” he blurted. “I can’t stay. It’s—it’s dangerous.”

He whirled to flee, one leg coiled and his boot on the railing.

Marinette grabbed his tail swiftly and pulled hard, digging in her heels to stop his escape.

He made a strangled sound. His body bent almost in half, as though crushed under some unseen weight.

“You have to tell Ladybug,” Marinette said. “She can help you.”

“No!” he said urgently. “Ladybug can’t know.”

“Why not?” Marinette asked.

“It’s better if she hates me, if she doesn’t trust me anymore because I…” Chat Noir shuddered.

Marinette felt the tremor run through him, starting along his spine and spreading throughout his limbs. She stepped closer, unable to help herself as she coiled her arms around him from behind. Her palms pressed against his chest, holding him flush against her. She could feel his heart pounding out a ragged tattoo, feel his breath trembling, and feel his slender body quivering. The leather of his suit was cold and she imagined that his body was too. Marinette rested her cheek against his back, hugging him tightly.

“Hawk Moth knows who I am,” Chat Noir confessed finally. “He figured it out or he must have seen me transform or…” He heaved a breath. His gloved hands came up to clutch her arms, anchoring himself to her. “He knows and he… he threatened everyone I love. My friends, Ladybug, my family, everyone…”

Marinette tensed.

“Thank god Ladybug never told me who she is,” he whispered. “If I knew, I’d have to…” His chest hitched with a stifled sob.

Marinette squeezed him tighter and felt the line of his ribs under her hands. “Chat,” she whispered.

His fingers twitched and he gently pried her arms from around his torso, being mindful of his claws. “Let me go, please. If Hawk Moth sees, if he thinks you’re important to me—”

Marinette didn’t let him go. She clung like a burr, unwilling to let him disappear into the void like a falling star to burn up in the atmosphere. “You need someone in your corner, now more than ever,” she said. “You can’t hope to beat him on your own, not without Ladybug.”

Chat Noir shuddered, but didn’t protest.

“Promise you’ll come to me,” Marinette insisted, “at night, if you can, if it’s safe.”

“I can’t,” he protested. “Hawk Moth—”

“Please,” Marinette pressed. “If you can’t tell Ladybug, if you won’t let me help, at least let me be there for you. Please.”

He released a shuddering breath. “Alright, Princess,” he relented, “but only if it’s safe.”

“Knock on the window,” Marinette told him. “Wake me up if I’m not awake. Promise me.”

Chat Noir made a soft wounded sound.

Marinette hugged him tighter, her palms pressing to his chest. “Promise me, Chat.”

“I promise,” he relented.

Marinette loosened her grip on him, trailing her fingers along his sides but unwilling to let go completely.

Chat Noir turned in her arms. He held her elbows, the tips of his claws pricking her bare skin. His face was open, gutted. “Marinette,” he said softly.

She gripped his forearms in return. “I’m here for you,” she said. “You can’t let Hawk Moth win.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “You’re right.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Marinette said. “What kind of cookies do you like?”

A wry smile pulled Chat Noir’s mouth. “Chocolate chip.”

“Done,” she said. “Don’t keep a lady waiting.”

“I’ll see you around, Princess,” he said softly. With that, he climbed onto her railing and bounded away. His dark suit immediately vanished into the night like a phantom.

Though Marinette stood, listening, she neither saw nor heard any sign of him. She rested her hands on the cold railing, staring out, her mind a whirlwind. Hawk Moth knew who Chat Noir was beneath the mask. Her greatest fear had been made real. She had to do something to help him. It had always been important to take down Hawk Moth but now it was more precious than ever. She couldn’t let anything happen to Chat Noir or anyone he loved.

Marinette heaved in a final lungful of fresh night air before dropping down through her skylight and crawling into bed.

Tikki was lying awake on Marinette’s pillow, dark eyes wide and deep. “I heard you talking to someone. Was that Chat Noir?”

Marinette curled up beside her kwami. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t know I’m Ladybug. I think he was just… out looking for help.”

“Did he tell you what happened today?”

Marinette nodded into her pillow. At the memory of his tormented tear-streaked face, she felt her eyes begin to burn and her throat tighten. “Hawk Moth knows who he is under the mask,” she explained. “He threatened Chat’s loved ones.”

Tikki sat up straight. “Oh no,” she breathed.

“We have to take down Hawk Moth,” Marinette told Tikki. “It’s the only way Chat Noir can be safe.”

“You’re right,” Tikki said. She snuggled against Marinette’s damp cheek. “But it won’t be easy alone.”

“I’m not alone. I have you,” Marinette told her, “and Chat Noir is still with me.”

Tikki made a little sound of protest.

“He is,” Marinette insisted. “When he sees Ladybug turn the tables on Hawk Moth, he’ll join me—I’m sure of it. In the meantime, I think he’ll keep trying to take my Miraculous, but he won’t hurt me. He’d never hurt me.”

“Marinette,” Tikki said seriously, “you can’t trust Chat Noir now. Don’t let your guard down.”

“I won’t,” Marinette assured her. She cradled Tikki between her palms and pressed a little kiss to her forehead.

Tikki hugged Marinette’s thumb. “You should try to get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Marinette nodded.

Tikki made her way to her preferred place beside Marinette’s head, snuggled in under her own tiny quilt, and appeared to fall asleep almost instantly. The fight today had taken a lot out of Tikki and Marinette feared it would only get worse without Chat Noir at her side. Even though she was tired, she found herself lying awake, staring at Tikki’s sleeping face. She wondered if, somewhere, Chat Noir’s civilian self was doing the same with his kwami.

XXX

(1) La Flèche means the arrow.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	2. (Dead)Line

I just wanted to let everyone know, this is rated mature but only the final chapter is going to be of the NSFW variety.

XXX

Marinette slept poorly that night. She had endless nightmares—of Chat Noir defeating her as Ladybug, of Chat Noir giving up his Miraculous and dissolving like so much dust in the wind, of Chat Noir falling to Hawk Moth, of Chat Noir returning to her balcony with injuries and tears. She woke each time with a start and took even longer to fall asleep. Beside her, Tikki slept restlessly and she wondered if her kwami was having similar dreams.

In the morning, Marinette dragged herself out of bed, dressed in her usual uniform, and stumbled through her morning routine. She blundered downstairs and pulled the orange juice from the fridge. She was about to drink directly from the carton when Sabine joined her.

“Marinette,” Sabine said with surprise. “Are you feeling alright?”

Marinette set the juice down, grabbed a glass, and poured it. “Fine, Maman,” she said lightly. “I just didn’t sleep very well.”

Sabine brushed the hair off Marinette’s forehead and studied her daughter for a moment. “You can stay home from school today, if you like. You look about to drop.”

The last thing Marinette needed was more time alone with her thoughts. She forced a smile. “No thanks, Maman,” she fibbed. “There’s a chemistry test today that I don’t want to miss.”

Sabine smiled lovingly. “Alright, have a good day, ma chérie.”

Marinette snagged a muffin for breakfast and let herself out of the bakery after giving a kiss to her father. She walked briskly to school, unable to help herself looking around at the rooftops for Chat Noir. In hindsight, it might not have been the smartest move to invite him to see her—Ladybug—at all hours, but she just hadn’t been able to leave him alone after the way he had looked last night. Protectively, she placed her hand over her bag.

“Girl!” Alya greeted cheerfully. Then, she saw Marinette’s face. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks,” Marinette muttered. “I can always count on you for a pick-me-up.”

Alya held her hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. What’s wrong?”

“I just didn’t sleep well.”

“Me either,” Alya agreed. “I was up half the night with the LadyBlog.”

Marinette’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah?”

“Did you see the news about the archery akuma yesterday?” Alya asked.

“I did,” Marinette said.

Alya busily pulled up the video on her phone. “It looks like Chat Noir joined the dark side,” she said softly.

“That’s not true,” Marinette said fiercely.

Alya looked at her in surprise. “I’m not saying it’s true,” she said pleadingly. “I’m just saying that’s what it looks like.”

Marinette tightened her grip on the strap of her bag. “Looks can be deceiving,” she said firmly.

Alya slung an arm around her shoulder and hugged her tight. “I’m with you, girl,” she agreed. “Chat Noir and Ladybug have been a team for almost two years now. He wouldn’t just turn on her.”

Marinette didn’t respond. The back of her neck felt cold and clammy.

“Ah, Nino, Adrien,” Alya greeted and spun Marinette around to face the boys.

Marinette immediately flustered at the sight of her crush, but then sobered once she had a moment to look beyond Adrien’s well-dressed façade. Nino was leaning in close to Adrien, speaking in a low concerned voice. Adrien looked as tired as Marinette felt, maybe more so. His skin was usually pale, but this morning, it was practically colorless. His lips were chapped, his eyes were ringed with dark circles, and his golden hair was disheveled where he had pushed his hands through it.

However, Adrien greeted his friends with a wan smile. “Good morning, Alya, Marinette,” he said as warmly as he could.

“Hey Adrien,” Alya said. “You look tired.”

Adrien rubbed at his eyes. “I am,” he said. “My schedule is as packed as ever.”

“Dudes,” Nino said when he saw Marinette. “I can run out and get you both some coffee.”

Adrien brandished an empty travel cup. “Tried that already,” he said.

Marinette rummaged in her backpack and came up with a handful of energy bars. “I’ve got it covered,” she said and offered to Adrien, “Want one?”

Adrien smiled and shook his head. “I’m okay. I have to watch my figure anyway,” he said and tossed his empty cup in a garbage can. “I’m resigned to just being tired today.”

Marinette put the bars back in her bag. “Okay,” she said.

Alya hooked her arm through Marinette’s and led her into the classroom with Adrien and Nino at their backs. They took their usual seats without fanfare. Marinette unpacked her homework and spread everything out in front of her. She stared absently at the back of Adrien’s mussed head, watching as he did the same with his assignments. He had a ladybug pen in hand, twisting it idly between his long fingers, as Nino continued fussing over him.

“Alya,” Rose called from the rear of the classroom. “I saw what happened on the LadyBlog. That’s just terrible.”

Marinette tensed and resisted the urge to snap around to face Rose. She gripped her folder tightly.

Alya turned in her seat, leaning over the desk behind theirs. “I know,” she said to Rose.

“What do you think happened?” Rose asked.

Alix jumped in. “Yeah, Alya, any theories on why Chat Noir betrayed Ladybug?”

Marinette’s lungs tightened and she forced herself to keep her eyes forward. Adrien looked tense as well. She could see his knuckles whiten where he gripped the edge of his desk. Nino had turned to face the conversation. His bespectacled eyes caught on Marinette’s face with concern and she forced a smile.

“I don’t know that he did,” Alya hedged. “We’ve seen Chat Noir struck by the effects of an akuma before. We don’t know for sure that isn’t what happened this time.”

Max pushed his glasses further up his nose. “I saw the news live and it looked like Chat Noir pursued Ladybug even after the akuma was cleansed.”

“Well,” Alya fumbled.

Chloe chose that moment to join the debate. She spun around in her seat and said haughtily, “Chat Noir is just a second rate superhero and he knows it. He’s small fry compared to Ladybug. It’s obvious that he’s trying to take her down so he can trade in his lame powers for better ones and then have all the glory for saving Paris to himself.”

Marinette bristled.

“That’s not cool, Chloe,” Juleka remarked.

Chloe sniffed imperiously. “It’s true and you know it.”

The class knew better than to continue an argument that Chloe was certain she’d already won. Arguing with her would only give rise to another akuma. Instead, Alya changed the subject to lunch and Mylene leaped onboard, helping to steer the discussion back to safer territory. Chloe began to brag about the lunch her father was going to have delivered and the topic of Chat Noir fell to the wayside.

Marinette let out a breath and flicked her eyes forward.

Adrien was gone from his seat.

She hadn’t seen him leave and apparently neither had Nino.

“Dude,” he asked Marinette, “Where did Adrien go?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. She mentally scrolled through what she knew of his schedule, but he should be in class with them. It was hard to worry about Adrien when she had so much on her plate. Chat Noir was a bigger concern, Hawk Moth was a bigger threat, and she was Ladybug. She had to put those concerns above her own trivial day-to-day problems.

Madame Bustier entered the classroom and clapped her hands for silence.

Adrien didn’t return until after lunch, looking more exhausted than before though he waved off another offer for coffee and nibbled his salad sedately.

…

That night, Marinette took a chance. “Tikki,” she began, “I want to patrol as usual.”

Tikki fidgeted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Chat Noir knows your routine.”

Marinette nodded. “I’m counting on that,” she said.

“But Marinette, if Hawk Moth is always watching him, you won’t get a chance to talk to him. He’ll just have to try to get your Miraculous again or risk something happening to his loved ones. It isn’t a good position for either of you to be in,” Tikki protested. “Maybe you should just wait for him to arrive here.”

“There’s no guarantee he’s coming here, Tikki,” Marinette said. “I think he promised just to make me feel better, but since I’m Ladybug… He’s my partner and I don’t want him to think he’s alone.”

Tikki sighed and polished off her cookie. “Alright,” she relented. “But you have promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will,” Marinette promised.

She clambered up onto her balcony and called Chat Noir’s name a few times for good measure. When he didn’t appear, she ducked back inside, transformed, and then vaulted away from the bakery briskly. She didn’t want to risk him learning her secret identity, now more than ever.

Ladybug and Chat Noir patrolled almost every night after her parents went to bed and Chat Noir was able to slip away from whoever was watching him. They tried to alternate nights in order to give the other a break, but Marinette joined him more often than not on his solo nights and Chat Noir almost always patrolled with her. Reaching their usual meeting place and finding it vacant felt like more of a blow than Chat Noir’s apparent betrayal during the fight with La Flèche.

Marinette settled herself against a high chimney to wait. She was unwilling to leave her back exposed. She knew Chat Noir wouldn’t hurt her, but he would have to take advantage of any opening given in order to protect his loved ones and she couldn’t blame him for that. She worried about what she would do in his position—if Hawk Moth was blackmailing her to turn against her partner.

The thought was a black void, swallowing her, choking her, blocking out all the moonlight.

“Milady,” came Chat Noir’s voice.

She startled, hand falling to her yoyo out of habit.

Chat Noir flinched. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Chat,” she greeted. She wanted to let go of her yoyo, to throw her arms around him, to hold him tight and burst into tears at the unfairness of it all, but forced herself to be strong. She didn’t move, neither closer nor further from him. She turned fully to face him, her chest open and her shoulders back. She wanted him to know she wasn’t afraid of him, that she didn’t think he was dangerous, that she knew he wasn’t a threat—not to her life.

“You shouldn’t patrol right now,” Chat Noir told her. “You’re alone and I’m…”

“You won’t hurt me,” Ladybug said firmly.

Chat Noir’s breath caught and his eyes snapped up to meet hers. “My Lady, you…”

“Tell me what happened,” Ladybug said gently. “Why did you… turn on me?”

Chat Noir sucked in air. “I… I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“You were right,” he said. His green eyes flicked to her face.

“About what?” she asked.

“I’m glad we don’t know each other,” he said. He drew his staff from behind his back and lengthened it, gripping it between his gloved palms.

“Chat,” Ladybug tried.

He shook his head, golden tresses falling over his eyes and hiding his expression. “Get ready, My Lady.”

Ladybug barely had time to grab her yoyo from her waist to fend him off.

Chat Noir had always been faster than she was. It was how he was able to take hits for her, to block blows she didn’t even see coming, to read her mind nearly the instant she was able to come up with a plan. She had asked him once, how he was so limber, so skilled, so strong, and he told her only that it was something he practiced in his civilian life. Marinette was too clumsy to manage any practice outside her costume. She might have been the brains behind their operation, but Chat Noir was the raw talent. She was adrift without him, lost, scrambling to find her feet in the unforgiving sea.

Ladybug dove out of the way of a second swipe that would have taken her legs out from under her. She whirled her yoyo, spinning it into a shield.

Though her shoulder was open and Chat Noir could have pressed his advantageous high position on the sloped rooftop, he purposefully attacked her shield. His staff sparked where it hit and he reeled back to catch his breath. His chest was heaving, but Marinette imagined that was more from nerves than exertion.

“Chat, please,” she tried again.

He shook his head. “I need your Miraculous.”

“You can’t have it,” she said. “We’ll figure this out.”

“I can’t risk it,” he said. His voice was chipped, little shards breaking apart. “You don’t understand, My Lady. I have so little… if Hawk Moth takes them from me, I won’t have anyone left.”

Marinette’s heart ached for him. “How did he find out?” slipped from her mouth.

“It doesn’t matter,” Chat Noir said. He swung at her again.

She leaped away, putting an alleyway between them. The distance felt cold and gaping like a wound.

“He knows me,” Chat Noir said. He lingered at the edge of the roof, looking down into the darkened street as though he considered jumping. “At least, he doesn’t know who you are.”

“Chat,” she called to him. “I won’t let you take my Miraculous, but I want you to know I’m here for you. We’ll figure this out.”

Chat Noir laughed. The sound was dry and heartbreaking, as brittle as glass and just as sharp. “I love you, My Lady.”

Ladybug’s chest constricted, choking her response. Chat Noir had told her that he loved her before, numerous times and in numerous ways, but lightly as a joke she could brush aside until she was ready to accept him. This—the hurt in his face and voice—was impossible to ignore.

“Chat,” she breathed.

He flashed a smile that was all teeth. “Don’t,” he said. “Not right now.”

Ladybug let her yoyo drop. She hadn’t been aware that she was still spinning it like a shield. “Then why tell me…?”

“I just,” he shrugged helplessly, “needed you to know. No matter what happens or what you have to do, I love you, Ladybug.”

She stumbled back half a step on the rooftop, her muscles weak with emotion.

Chat Noir cleared the space between them in a single bound. He landed in front of her hard, his boots coming down inches from her toes. He could have hit her then, but he stopped his staff millimeters from her ribs. Ladybug’s reflexes reared up and she planted both hands in the middle of his chest. She had a moment to think that she felt his heart pounding under his armor before she pushed him over the edge of the roof. Chat Noir could have grabbed her, could have dragged her over with him, could have planted his staff in the brickwork or on the ground below and been right back on top of her. Instead, he let himself tumble and gripped onto the bricks with his clawed fingers. His staff made a terrible sound when it flew from his hand and hit the pavement below.

Ladybug saw the move for what it was. He was giving her a chance to slip away, to stop this fight, to retreat rather than…

She swallowed the lump in her throat, cast her yoyo, and swung away. The night air whipped her stinging eyes and cold cheeks. She circled the block around her family bakery twice before dropping in through her skylight and collapsing on the bed. She only realized that she was crying when she felt Tikki gently blot her face with a tissue.

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki said gently.

Marinette clutched the little guardian to her cheek as her body was wracked with sobs. “What can I do, Tikki?” she cried. “How do I fix this?”

“I don’t know, Marinette,” Tikki crooned. “I don’t know.”

Marinette cried herself to sleep that night, emotionally-exhausted. She didn’t know if Chat Noir came to visit her after his fight with Ladybug. She wasn’t sure if that made her happy or sad. However, her dreams were plagued with images of Hawk Moth learning who she was, threatening her family, her friends, everyone she cared about. She woke with a start, crying all over again.

…

“You let Ladybug escape,” Hawk Moth said coldly.

The moonlight streamed through his window, catching on his silvery cowl. There was something troubling about his mouth. It was the way his lips pulled back and his teeth stuck out. He looked like a grinning skull, like a Grim Reaper, like the personification of Death incarnate. White butterflies flickered all around him like stars, winking in and out of existence with the opening and closing of their wings.

“I-I’m sorry,” Chat Noir lied.

“Drop that ridiculous costume,” Hawk Moth ordered.

Adrien let his transformation fall and caught Plagg in his cupped palms when his kwami couldn’t find the strength to fly. Plagg was exhausted. Hawk Moth had forced Adrien to transform again and again, out hunting for Ladybug in the night, while never allowing Adrien to feed his kwami. Plagg looked pitifully up at Adrien, holding onto his thumb with both tiny black paws. His green gaze was mournful. Adrien resisted the urge to tuck Plagg safely inside his shirt, hiding the little creature against his skin. It wouldn’t do for Hawk Moth to know how much Adrien loved Plagg.

Hawk Moth already knew too much.

“I’m sorry,” Adrien repeated.

Hawk Moth huffed and turned his attention back out the window. “How many chances should I give you before I start removing distractions?”

Adrien’s chest tightened. “I’ll get her Miraculous, I swear, just please… don’t hurt—”

“I asked you a question,” Hawk Moth snapped.

Adrien closed his mouth.

“How many chances should I permit you?” Hawk Moth repeated. “How many failures should I allow?”

Adrien’s fingers twitched convulsively around Plagg. “I… I’ll get her Miraculous next time you send an akuma.”

Hawk Moth nodded pensively. “Alright,” he agreed. “I suppose it isn’t fair to expect you to succeed alone.”

Adrien swallowed. His throat felt clogged.

“Very well,” Hawk Moth said. “But if you fail again, there will be consequences.”

Adrien’s chest squeezed. He couldn’t draw in a deep enough breath. Light-headed, he could only nod.

“Go on home,” Hawk Moth said dismissively. “I’m sure your father misses you.”

Relieved beyond words, Adrien hurried from Hawk Moth’s butterfly lair. He rode the elevator back to the surface and quickly lost himself in the maze of tunnels that made up Hawk Moth’s underground haven. If not for the light of a single white butterfly leading his way, Adrien knew he wouldn’t have been able to find his way out or in. He burst out of the hidden entrance and sucked in lungfuls of fresh night air. Only after the door closed again and he was alone did he realize that he had come out somewhere near the Seine River. It was nowhere near his home.

Adrien swore under his breath and rummaged through his pockets for anything to feed Plagg. He found only a pack of cheese and crackers. It was a testament to Plagg’s exhaustion that he didn’t even complain. Adrien sank down on a bench that afforded him a good view of the star-dusted river.

Plagg ate slowly and quietly.

Absently, Adrien stroked his thumb along Plagg’s short fur.

“What now?” Plagg asked finally.

“We have to transform one more time,” Adrien said. “We’re too far from home for me to walk.”

Plagg groaned tiredly.

“I know,” Adrien soothed. He stroked between Plagg’s ears.

“How are you going to get Ladybug’s Miraculous next time there’s an akuma attack?” Plagg asked.

Adrien’s vision blurred at the edges. “I don’t think I’ll be able to.”

“Then, what about your friends?” Plagg asked.

Adrien let out his breath slowly and sniffed. “Maybe… I could warn them or I could…”

Plagg searched his young bearer’s face. “No, Adrien,” he murmured. “Not that.”

“Plagg,” Adrien said. “Transform me.”

The transformation took longer. Plagg was so tired. Adrien could feel it in his bones. He pushed himself, making it home as quickly as possible and then getting Plagg a massive plate of his favorite cheeses. He tucked his kwami under his favorite blue scarf for comfort and then flopped down on his bed. Tomorrow, he promised himself, tomorrow.

XXX

I am going to endeavor to post new chapters on Saturdays for this story since I usually have some down time so be on the look out for that.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	3. Break (Me) Apart

“Rompre” means to break up.

XXX

When Marinette arrived to school the next day, Nino was staring exasperatedly at the side of Sabrina’s head. For her part, Sabrina was somehow managing to look both happy and sad. She was seated beside Nino in Adrien’s usual spot with her hands folded tightly in her lap. Adrien was seated next to Chloe who already looked insufferably smug about it. Marinette stopped abruptly in the threshold of the classroom and Alya bumped into her back.

“What is it?” Alya asked. With one hand in the middle of Marinette’s back, she pushed her into the classroom the rest of the way and took in the sight. “What’s up guys?”

Nino turned to face them. “Can I talk to you two?” He glowered at Sabrina when he added, “Alone?”

Chloe tittered. “Upset that Adrikins finally dumped you peasants and joined his betters?”

Marinette’s gaze darted to Adrien, but he studiously looked down at his books. He didn’t even glance at them. He had looked exhausted yesterday, but today his face was marble-pristine and smooth. He must have put on makeup to hide behind. His green eyes lacked some of their usual luster and his lower lip was chapped.

“Sure,” Alya said immediately.

Nino grasped Marinette’s hand when she didn’t follow straightaway, towed her out into the hallway, and closed the door to their classroom. The ambient chatter cut off. Nino let go, thrust his hands into his pockets, and shuffled his feet. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked hurt and surprised, the corners of his eyes and mouth stretched wide.

“What happened?” Alya asked. “Why is Adrien sitting with Chloe?”

“For once,” Nino said finally, “Chloe is right.”

Marinette inhaled and resisted the urge to glance backwards into the classroom.

“What?” Alya repeated.

“Adrien came in this morning and told me that he couldn’t be friends with,” Nino made air-quotes with his fingers, “someone like me.”

Alya cocked her hands on her hips. “What does that even mean?”

Nino shrugged helplessly. “Then, he asked Chloe if he could sit with her.”

“That… that’s not like Adrien,” Marinette said slowly.

“You saw it for yourself,” Nino told her dejectedly.

Marinette gave in and turned to look over her shoulder at Adrien.

Chloe had draped herself along his side, talking with her hands in an over-exaggerated way. Adrien was very carefully not-looking at her or at them. He kept his eyes forward, his hand curled tightly around his ladybug pen and poised over his notebook. Marinette wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or her wishful heart that made her think he looked sad.

“Something isn’t right,” Marinette remarked.

“First Chat Noir and now Adrien,” Alya said pensively. “Maybe it’s a new akuma?”

Marinette startled at the comparison before brushing it away. Chat Noir’s name was a shock of cold water, a reminder that whatever was up with Adrien—whatever petty drama or issues with his father or sudden change of heart he’d had—paled in comparison to finding a way to defeat Hawk Moth and free Chat Noir from his dangerous grasp.

“Come on,” she said to Alya and Nino. “Let’s go back in.”

Nino huffed a breath, but followed. He slumped gloomily beside Sabrina.

Marinette and Alya took their usual seats. Though Marinette tried to focus in class, her mind kept drifting to Chat Noir. She found herself constantly looking at Nino. Hurt and frustration rolled off him in waves. If he attracted an akuma and Ladybug had to cleanse it without Chat Noir’s help—or worse, while working against Chat Noir…

Marinette glanced down at her notes and found that she hadn’t written a single word.

At lunchtime, Alya ushered Nino and Marinette away before Chloe could say anything rude. Nino walked with his head down and his cap pulled low. Adrien glanced after them, but didn’t follow and didn’t say anything. Once they were safely seated on a bench near the rear of the school without a view of the Bourgeois’s limo coming to take Adrien and Chloe to lunch, Alya turned to her attention to Nino.

Alya pointed at him with her fork sternly. “You’ve got to shake this,” she said. “You’re going to get akumatized.”

Nino stared at his sandwich and squished the bread between this fingers. “I can’t just stop feeling hurt, Alya,” he said. “Adrien’s my best dude and he just deserted me.”

Marinette stared down at the homemade meat pastry in her lap. “I know it’s hard, Nino, but you have to try to look on the bright side.”

“What part would that be, dude?” he asked. Though the question was stinging, his tone was soft and wounded.

“More time to hang out with us,” Alya said cheerfully.

Nino cracked a little smile. “True,” he agreed and slung an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “More time with my two best girls.”

Marinette smiled with relief and bit into her pastry. The flavor exploded on her tongue. There was nothing like her father’s cooking to make her think anything was possible. The dark clouds that had been hanging over her seemed to be peeled away, especially when Nino perked up and began chattering with Alya about an upcoming television series that they were both excited for. Marinette listened with half an ear, her mind still spinning disaster scenarios of Chat Noir and Hawk Moth.

“What do you think Marinette?” Nino demanded suddenly. “Should Audrey be with Duke or Nathan?”

Marinette swallowed and opened her mouth to pitch some kind of reply even though she had no idea what they were talking about when the ground trembled. The entire bench bucked beneath them, sending Nino’s soda splattering and Alya’s salad dressing to the ground. Marinette’s water bottle broke free and rolled away.

Somewhere, something gave way with a violent crack and someone screamed shrilly. 

“An earthquake?” Nino asked.

Alya glanced at him. “An akuma?”

Nino patted himself over as though he had been turned without noticing.

“We have to get out of here,” Marinette told them urgently. “It isn’t safe.”

Alya brandished her phone. “Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon. I have to record. What if something changed?”

‘What if something hasn’t?’ Marinette thought. If she had to fight an akuma and Chat Noir, she might not be able to protect her friends. “Alya!” she protested.

Alya winked and started recording. “I’ll be fine,” she told Marinette. “You two get someplace safe.” With that, she whirled on her heel and took off running towards the commotion.

Marinette bit off a curse. “Nino—”

“I’m going after her,” Nino said quickly. “I’m not losing two friends in one day.”

“Nino!” Marinette shouted.

He ran, pell-mell, after Alya without looking back.

Marinette huffed.

Beneath her feet, the ground roiled again.

Tikki peeked out of her bag, little red fingers moving as she quickly scarfed a cookie for extra energy. “Be careful, Marinette,” she said. “You know I hate to say it, but your Miracle Cure will heal any injuries that occur. You need to prioritize protecting yourself over your friends, especially without Chat Noir at your side.”

“I know,” Marinette said, though such a promise was easier said than done. She quickly found an unoccupied classroom and shut the door. “Ready?”

Tikki swallowed the last of her cookie. “Ready.”

“Spots on!”

Ladybug exploded from the window of the empty classroom and swung herself onto the rooftop of the school. From there, she shaded the sun from her eyes with one hand and peered around for any sign of the akuma. A few blocks away, there was a cloud of dust and a cacophony of yelling. Marinette allowed herself one deep breath. Then, she put aside her worries and threw herself off the roof.

The latest akuma called itself Rompre and screamed at the top of its lungs, “You broke me, now I’m going to break you!”

It wasn’t obvious to Ladybug at first glance who had been changed into Rompre, but its timing felt a little too on the nose. She would have thought it was Nino if not for the fact that she had seen him before the akuma occurred. Was it Sabrina or Adrien, akumatized over the drama this morning?

Rompre was truly massive. Its arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks, but its entire body was stony. It had a distended Neanderthal brow over beady little black eyes and a big gaping mouth. Its clothes were nondescript jeans and the torn remains of a t-shirt, which most-likely ruled out Sabrina. It stomped about, sending out tremors as it upended cars in search of its target.

Ladybug perched on the tip of a flagpole, taking in the area. There was no sign of Chat Noir—yet. Maybe she would get lucky and wrap this up before he arrived to complicate things. Since little remained of the original victim’s form, Rompre’s akuma had to be in the pockets of its torn jeans. She unfurled her yoyo, weighing it in her hand.

Peeking out of an alleyway, Ladybug spotted the flash of a phone. There was Alya and Nino behind her, resolutely bringing live content to her LadyBlog. Hopefully Nino had the sense to keep Alya as far back as possible. Tikki was right. Marinette couldn’t worry about her friends during this fight. She had to focus on taking down Rompre as quickly as she could so that she could dedicate her attention to Chat Noir.

Rompre hadn’t seen Ladybug yet and had its back to her while it overturned a bus.

Ladybug hurled her yoyo and snared Rompre around its upper shoulders. She darted behind the flagpole and used it as leverage to topple Rompre onto its back with a crash. Several cars jumped and the ground cracked with the force of the impact. Rompre howled and thrashed against the bonds. Ladybug leaped nimbly onto Rompre’s sprawled form and quickly patted down its pockets. She didn’t feel anything.

The flagpole screamed as it bent. Rompre wrestled back to its feet, dislodging Ladybug. She snapped her yoyo back in and cast herself away. As she streamed past, she noticed a flash of gold on Rompre’s wrist. It was a bracelet with a heart on it and that was all she could make out. Probably not Adrien, she realized with a breath of short-lived relief.

Rompre knew she was here now and turned its beady eyes on her. “Ladybug!” it shrieked. “How’s your break-up going?”

The reminder of Chat Noir was more effective than any punch. Ladybug caught her breath and steeled herself. She opened her mouth to retort, but swallowed her response. Alya was filming this. Knowing what she knew about Chat Noir’s predicament, would it help or hinder him further to show Hawk Moth that her faith in her partner was unshakable?

Ladybug gritted her teeth. She was already a target for Hawk Moth, but if all of Paris was watching, she didn’t need to make Chat Noir their enemy. He hadn’t betrayed her, he wasn’t lost—he was in danger and he deserved help. With that in mind, Ladybug shouted down to Rompre, “Break-up? We’ve had no such thing.”

Hawk Moth’s symbol flared around Rompre’s face.

‘Good,’ Ladybug thought.

Rompre roared, lifted both meaty hands, and smashed the ground. Hideous marks spread from its fists and the bottom floor of the building Ladybug stood on crumbled. Her heart lurched, thinking of the people inside, but she couldn’t worry about them now. Alya was broadcasting and Chat Noir would be here soon and then Ladybug would be out of time.

Ladybug hurled her yoyo, snared Rompre’s wrist, dove around the corner of her roof, and used her bodyweight to yank the arm and pull Rompre off-balance. Now was when she really would have appreciated Chat Noir’s help. She had the akuma immobilized and accessible, but there was no way for her to get to it without letting go of her yoyo. She glanced around, hoping for a spark of insight.

She spotted Alya and Nino, staring in awe at the battle.

There—a flash of black.

Ladybug’s mouth went dry.

Chat Noir’s staff bounced off her yoyo’s taut line. The blow reverberated into Ladybug’s arms and shoulders. He had given it his all, allowing Hawk Moth the illusion of a full-force attack while not risking anything. Chat Noir had to know that her yoyo, like his staff, was indestructible. Rompre yowled as the blow only tightened Ladybug’s lasso. The string cut into the stony exterior of Rompre’s arm, leaving the bracelet even more exposed.

Chat Noir landed a few feet away, his staff clutched with both hands.

Ladybug saw his lips quirk as he almost called out a greeting, something corny or flirty. She could almost hear his voice, ‘Miss me, milady? I sure missed you.’

However, he visibly swallowed those words. He spun his staff and held it low in his non-dominant hand.

Ladybug unspooled her yoyo from Rompre before Chat Noir could dive at her. She blocked his assault, spinning her yoyo into a shield that he bounced off. He skidded, trying to find his feet on the cracked pavement. Rompre wrestled back to its feet and stood looming over them. Its shadow fell dark and deep on Ladybug, giving her a chill that raised goose bumps beneath her suit. From the corner of her eye, she saw Hawk Moth’s symbol flare again.

Rompre laughed and then shouted, “What if I break something dear to you?” Grabbing a ruined car in one stony fist, it hurled the car directly at the alley where Alya and Nino were hiding.

Marinette’s heart jumped into her throat.

Nino grabbed Alya by the elbow and pushed her as hard as he could. Such a move left him standing there, dumbly, as the car descended.

Within the space of two heartbeats, Ladybug hurled her yoyo at Rompre’s open side. She snared its wrist and jerked it over. Rompre landed with a hard thump. Several windows shattered with the impact and Ladybug threw herself on the bracelet. The chains were thick, having grown with Rompre, but her adrenaline gave her strength. The weak link snapped under her hand.

She heard the car land with a devastating crunch and forced herself not to look at her friend’s body. Her Miracle Cure—all she had to do was cleanse the akuma and use her healing ability. Then, Nino would be fine. He’d have to be fine. He had to be!

“Dude,” came Nino’s shocked voice.

Ladybug gasped and couldn’t help but glance where her friend had been standing.

Chat Noir had slipped between Nino and the car at the last second. Somehow, he had jerked Nino out of the way. They were standing on the other side of the car where Alya had fallen. She still had a grip on her phone and shakily angled the recording up at them. Broken glass was strewn all around their feet, crunching under Chat Noir’s boots.

“You saved me,” Nino murmured.

“But you still fought against Ladybug,” Alya breathed. “I saw it.”

Chat Noir flinched. He let go of Nino’s shoulder hastily and backed away. “I—”

The ground trembled under Ladybug’s feet. Rompre had done too much damage and Paris’s streets were breaking apart. Quickly, she tossed her yoyo into the air and called for her Miracle Cure. The miraculous ladybugs swept all through Paris, mending everything that had been damaged in the attack. The cars were all returned to their positions, the destroyed buildings were rebuilt, the scrape on Chat Noir’s face healed. Alya scrambled to her feet and tugged Nino away, still brandishing her phone like a shield.

Chat Noir was rooted to the spot, his face white beneath his mask. Stricken, he tore his gaze from Nino to Alya, then to Ladybug. He looked about to scream, to cry, to fall apart.

Ladybug’s breath caught around his name.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Alya demanded.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Nino asked.

Chat Noir bolted. Springing with his staff, he was gone in a heartbeat.

Ladybug scrambled after him, leaving Alya and Nino to find their own way back to the school. She hadn’t had to use her Lucky Charm so she had time. She flew after Chat Noir and it was a testament to his panic that she was able to not only spot him, but close the distance between them. He was fleeing mindlessly, his staff and long legs eating up rooftops. Ladybug swung after him, putting her skills to the test. She intercepted him as he leaped a bridge by hurling herself directly into his path. He scrambled to redirect himself, but it was too late.

They collided hard, the breath knocked from Ladybug’s lungs. However, she squeezed her free arm tight around him and swung them onto a rooftop. She felt Chat Noir’s chest heave, his breath coming in pants and his heart jackhammering against his ribs. They landed lightly and Ladybug grasped his hands before he could run away.

“Chat Noir,” she said urgently.

His green eyes were flooded with tears. He looked at her briefly and then lunged for her earrings.

She blocked him from grabbing them. “Stop!” she protested. “Talk to me!”

He trembled all over, shouting anxiously, “You don’t understand. I need your Miraculous!” He grabbed for her, claws hands scraping along her armor. “Everyone I love is in danger—please, just give it to me!”

“No!” Ladybug shouted and fended him off.

Chat Noir’s desperation made him sloppy.

It wasn’t long before Ladybug caught his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. However, rather than press the advantage, she flattened herself against his back. She gripped his hand tightly, keeping the pressure, while she banded her free arm around his chest. She could feel his body shaking with nerves. This close, she could see the tears shining under his mask. She tucked her chin over his shoulder and leaned her head against his.

“Chat,” she said lowly. “What’s going on? Please, just talk to me.”

Chat’s free hand grasped aimlessly along her forearm. He could have pried her off, but he didn’t. “Hawk Moth gave me an ultimatum,” he whispered.

Ladybug continued to hold him. Her thumb rasped over his heart.

“If I didn’t get your Miraculous this time, he said he’d start… removing my distractions,” Chat Noir whispered.

Ladybug gasped.

“Let me go,” Chat Noir pleaded. “I—I don’t know who he’s going to hurt, but I have to save them.”

“Chat,” she breathed. She nosed into his golden hair, squeezing her eyes shut against the sting of tears. His shampoo smelled sweet, but his scent was clouded with fear-sweat.

“Ladybug,” he whispered. “What do I do? It’s all my fault.”

Ladybug held him tight. “It’s not your fault,” she said soothingly. “It’s Hawk Moth’s. We’ll figure this out—”

“No!” Chat Noir snarled suddenly. “We won’t!”

Viciously, he tore away from her. The breath rushed from Ladybug’s lungs when he landed a hard shot to her ribs, flipped her over his shoulder, and slammed her down on the rooftop. Stricken, Ladybug lay flat on her back, looking up at him. Her ears were ringing and her back ached where she had struck the tiles. Chat Noir hesitated, even though she was down. His claws hung in the air, poised to grab her Miraculous, but he didn’t close the distance. With a stifled sob, he turned and fled again. This time, when Ladybug tried to follow, she wasn’t able to.

Gutted, Ladybug dropped down from the roof and made her way back towards school. Ducking into a hidden alcove, she dropped her transformation and was blindsided by agony roaring hotly across her back. She yelped and quickly reached to touch before snatching her hand back.

“Marinette?” Tikki asked with concern. “Was something not healed?”

“No,” Marinette realized with a wince. “It happened after I used my Cure. Can you look?”

Tikki nodded.

Carefully, Marinette hitched up her shirt and jacket to expose her back.

Tikki gasped. “Oh, Marinette,” she murmured. “That’s a huge bruise.”

Marinette dropped her shirt. “I think I’ll live,” she said sadly.

Tikki slipped tiredly into Marinette’s purse.

Worn, Marinette tracked back to school on foot. Aches and pains radiated all throughout her body from her shoulders to her knees. She never realized how much strain she put on herself until now. Alya and Nino were waiting on the steps when she approached. They both raced over to her and she straightened her spine.

Alya immediately started fussing. “Where were you? We were so worried.”

“You were worried?” Marinette snapped. “At least I didn’t run off into the middle of an akuma attack just to film.”

Alya winced and allowed Marinette to check her over in turn. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Marinette sighed and dropped her hands from Alya’s shoulders. “I got caught on this side of it,” she said. “I’m okay. What about you?”

“It was close,” Alya admitted lowly. The tips of her fingers were cold where she gripped Marinette’s hands. “Nino almost got killed.”

Nino crossed his arms sternly, fingers jammed into his elbows to hide their shaking. “I hope you’ve learned something about following the heroes around, Alya,” he said.

Alya didn’t look as chagrined as Marinette had hoped their near-death experiences would make her. However, she said agree to be more careful in a somber voice. Then, her demeanor changed and she held out her phone triumphantly. “I got great footage,” Alya told Marinette cheerfully. “I think there might be hope for Chat Noir yet.”

Marinette fidgeted with the strap of her bag. “What makes you say that? I thought he’d been fighting against Ladybug.”

“He was,” Alya confirmed, “but he still saved Nino.”

Marinette glanced between them, weighing her words. Finally, she settled on, “Of course he did.”

Alya’s lips pulled into a smile at Marinette’s words. “I didn’t realize you were such a Chat Noir fan. Your faith is unshakable, huh, girl?” 

Marinette smiled and forced herself not to glance at the skyline. “It is.”

Nino slung an arm around her shoulders. “Mine too, Marinette,” he agreed. “Mine too.”

…

Adrien ran.

He ran as fast as he could, pushing the limits of Chat Noir’s body, powers, and transformation. He could feel exhaustion creeping in under the nausea and his pounding heart, but he couldn’t stop. He could feel her chasing him. Ladybug was on his heels and if she begged him to let her help one more time, he was going to crumble. He wanted her help so badly, but he couldn’t drag her into his mess. He couldn’t ask her to step in and save him. They were supposed to be partners, except he was too stupid—

Chat Noir’s boot caught the gutter as he landed on the next roof. His legs went out from underneath him and he desperately dug his claws into the tile to keep from sliding off. Breathing hard, his eyes streaming from wind and emotion, he dragged himself upright again. Unable to find his feet, he crawled until he reached a little shadow cast by a chimney. He curled there, legs pulled tight to his chest and arms wrapped tight around them. He hunkered there, catching his breath, staring across the cityscape.

Ladybug wasn’t behind him. She wasn’t there.

A sob caught under his ribs. She wasn’t following. Maybe she had given up on him after he had hurled her over his shoulder. He could still see the image of her—the wind knocked from her chest, her blue eyes wide, her dark hair mussed, her mouth caught in the shape of surprise and just a little fear as he reached for her Miraculous with his claws—splayed on the rooftop. He couldn’t stay after doing that but he had thought she was following him.

It had just been wishful thinking on his part.

Adrien sucked in a shuddering breath around the throbbing ache in his chest and started to pull himself back together. Somewhere, someone he loved was in danger right now and they didn’t even know it. It seemed impossible that Adrien would not only be able to figure out who Hawk Moth would target but also get there in time to save them. Not for the first time, he wished he had Ladybug’s Miracle Cure.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a glint of white in the sunshine.

His head snapped around so quickly that it hurt. It was one of Hawk Moth’s butterflies, beckoning him, threatening him with a flap of pearlescent wings. He wanted to catch it in his palms and crush it, but something like that would surely only make his situation worse. There was no postponing the inevitable. Hawk Moth knew who he was, who he loved, where to find him.

Adrien climbed to his feet, scrubbed his face with his gloved hands, and set off after the butterfly. It brought him, as always, to an entrance into the sewers. Adrien followed its faint glow through the dark tunnels, grateful for Chat Noir’s night vision to guide him. Before long, he recognized the large trapdoor that descended into Hawk Moth’s lair and resolutely stepped into the elevator. The ride was quick and he felt as though he left his stomach behind. Cold sweat broke out under his suit and he caught his hands shaking. Adrien rolled them into fists as the doors slid open.

Hawk Moth stood in a shaft of sunlight with his back to Adrien. He didn’t turn, even when Chat Noir’s boots thudded loudly on the floor. His butterflies danced around him, something impossibly beautiful in the face of a monstrous villain. Beyond his shoulder, Adrien could incongruously see Paris spread beneath them. Was it a trick, he wondered, or a video feed?

“You failed,” Hawk Moth said, “again.” His voice was a blade, poised for Adrien to throw himself on.

Adrien didn’t apologize, but he wanted to. The words were ashen on his tongue.

Hawk Moth turned enough that the light gleamed on his wicked smile. “I’ll make you a deal.”

Adrien swallowed and hoped against hope—for what, he didn’t know. Nothing would make this better. He couldn’t take Ladybug’s Miraculous any more than he could allow his loved ones to be hurt.

Hawk Moth was silent, waiting for Adrien’s response, waiting for Adrien to fall on that sword.

“What deal?” Adrien asked when he couldn’t bear the silence any longer.

Hawk Moth grinned, his mouth stretching obscenely beneath his cowl. “You can choose.”

The clawed tips of Chat Noir’s gloves dug into Adrien’s palms, but he worried about what his hands would do if he uncurled them. “Choose what?”

“Who.”

The word hung between them, frozen, buoyant, like a bomb filled with gas.

Adrien swallowed and his throat felt raw. “What?”

“Choose someone from your life,” Hawk Moth repeated slowly.

Fire ignited inside Adrien’s chest cavity. At least, that’s what it felt like. His lungs were starved of air, his stomach curdled, his palms broke out with sweat, and searing pain roared up around his heart. How could Hawk Moth expect him to just pick someone he loved, to mark them for death, to choose them for this?

Hawk Moth’s smirk widened. “You were going to try to save them, weren’t you? Doesn’t this increase your chances of doing so—if you know who is in danger?”

Adrien shuddered. As much as he didn’t want to agree with Hawk Moth, there was a twisted logic to that. He knew in his heart that Hawk Moth was setting him up for failure, for the weight of his inability to rescue his loved ones to drag him down, but how could he pass up the opportunity to try to protect them? If he had no idea who Hawk Moth was going to attack, he didn’t stand a chance. But if he chose someone…

“I’m waiting,” Hawk Moth said coldly.

Adrien startled violently. His mouth was dry and he tried to swallow.

“Who do you choose?” Hawk Moth asked.

Adrien quickly rolled through his loved ones. His list was woefully short.

His father was out. Gabriel Agreste wouldn’t stop working for a moment, even if his life was in danger. Chat Noir would be expelled from his office before he even managed a warning and Adrien would fare no better. What about Nathalie? Adrien knew she was experienced in several professional martial arts styles. She could probably hold her own for precious minutes while Chat Noir tried to reach her, but she was in the same position as his father. She wouldn’t take a warning seriously from one of Paris’s teen heroes. 

Gorilla would probably listen to Chat Noir, but—Adrien’s throat tightened—Gorilla had been his driver since he was small. Though the big man rarely spoke, he cared deeply for Adrien. He even broke the rules on Adrien’s behalf, allowing his friends to sneak in or bringing Adrien little treats when he was housebound under Gabriel’s thumb. If anything happened to Gorilla, Adrien would be totally alone in his sprawling mansion. He had turned Nino, Marinette, and Alya against him just that morning so Gorilla was the only one left who cared for him. His heart tripped and he decided that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take right now.

Could he ask Hawk Moth to target Alya? Adrien thought of the car flying towards her that very morning and shook the thought away. She was fearless, but her desire for a good story was dangerous. She might waste time on her phone while he tried to keep her alive. What about Nino? He was sure Nino would heed a warning from Chat Noir and he had quick reflexes from playing video games, but Nino was his very best friend. Adrien had already hurt him enough times today. He couldn’t send an akuma after him too.

Video game reflexes—his mind snagged on that thought.

He needed someone light on their feet, quick-thinking, brave. He thought to ask for Ladybug, but cast the thought away. Hawk Moth would never allow that. This was to teach Adrien a lesson in the consequences of failure and Ladybug would certainly stop any akuma that was thrown at her, even without Chat Noir at her side. She had already proven that.

However, Marinette had worked with Chat Noir to deflect akumas before. Adrien had seen her in a crisis. She was the bravest person in their class, one of the smartest, and had destroyed him playing Ultimate Mecha Strike III. She was always able to hide effectively from akumas, unlike Alya and Nino. Most of all, she had asked him to come see her whenever it was safe. She already knew that he was all at once a threat and forced to work against Ladybug against his will. He wouldn’t have to waste precious seconds explaining anything to her.

“Marinette,” he found himself saying. Tears pricked his eyes unbidden. “I choose Marinette.”

Hawk Moth smirked. “Excellent decision,” he said.

He held out his hand and a single butterfly landed in his palm. Cupping it, Adrien watched in horror as swirls of darkness were pulled out of the air around them. When Hawk Moth spread his hands, an akuma waited. With purpose, the darkened butterfly took off flying towards an unknown destination. Adrien was rooted in the spot, staring at the place on the wall where it had disappeared through Hawk Moth’s view of Paris.

“Better run, Adrien,” Hawk Moth said cruelly. “Butterflies are faster than cats.”

Adrien ran.

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	4. Tell Me (the Truth)

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday.

XXX

Marinette hadn’t been home long. After the akuma attack, school attempted to resume but everyone was too excitable and it was hard for the teachers to get anything done. Plus, a good percentage of the students had skipped class, including Adrien and Chloe was beside herself. Apparently, he had bundled her up somewhere safe during their lunch and never come back. Like the akuma, Principal Damocles was defeated and had given everyone the rest of the day off.

Marinette was grateful for the reprieve. Not only was she exhausted and aching from her fight with Chat Noir, but she was so behind on homework that it wasn’t even funny. Seated at her desk while Tikki napped, it was hard to focus on her homework though. She had so many bigger problems than algebra and chemistry. With a groan, she dragged her hands through her hair and sighed heavily.

Then, there came a fervent knocking at her window. Snapping her head up, she quickly shunted Tikki into her purse and went to open the skylight. She already have a feeling she knew who was knocking. While she was pleased that he had come to see her, she didn’t know what she could do for him. She didn’t have a plan yet.

Marinette opened the hatch. “Chat—”

He blasted through the opening, swinging down and landing hard in front of her with his staff extended at an unseen threat.

Despite herself, Marinette latched onto his shoulder and peeked around him. There was no sign of anything out of place in her room. “Chat?” she asked. “What’s going—?”

He dropped his staff with a clatter and whirled around. He clutched her to his chest, running his clawed hands up and down her back desperately. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” he repeated over and over as a mantra. His entire body was vibrating with nerves. “You’re okay. Thank god. I made it in time. You’re okay.”

Marinette fought a wince as he pressed on her bruises. “What’s going on?” 

Chat Noir tensed, his arms tightening around her to the point of pain.

Marinette squirmed. “Chat?”

“I…” he began. His voice cracked and he continued after clearing his throat, “Hawk Moth is coming for you.”

Marinette’s fingers tightened against the armored plate on his shoulder. “What? Why?”

Chat Noir flinched and couldn’t meet her eyes.

Marinette could see him weighing a lie. “Tell me the truth.”

“I have to get you out of here first,” Chat Noir insisted, “somewhere more defensible. Please.”

Marinette grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. “We will,” she assured him, “as soon as you tell me.”

Chat Noir picked up his staff with shaking hands. “Please, don’t be upset.”

Marinette was already upset, but not at Chat Noir. “Just tell me how you knew he was coming for me.”

“He made me choose,” Chat Noir admitted.

Marinette’s hands froze in the act of buttoning her jacket. Through sheer force of will, she forced herself to finish up and secured her purse at her side. “And you chose me?”

Chat Noir scrambled, reaching for her. There was fear in his green eyes. “You don’t understand,” he insisted. “I thought that I—I knew you would trust me when you saw me. I knew I could get you out. I can protect you. Just—just stay with me. I’ll keep you safe and when the akuma gets here, Ladybug will show up and I’ll—” He choked off, trying to catch his breath.

“Have to try for her Miraculous or this starts all over again,” Marinette finished.

Chat Noir’s face was ashen beneath his mask. He looked like he was going to be ill.

“We need a better plan than this,” Marinette said. She stepped close enough that she could feel the heat rolling off his body. “Get me out of here. I don’t want my parents caught up in it.”

Chat Noir nodded. He wrapped his arm around her waist and Marinette gripped him in return. It was easy to hold onto him, to give herself over to him, to trust him implicitly, as he pulled her out through the skylight and vaulted away from the bakery. Even though she was sure Chat Noir was wracked with guilt over choosing her, she was grateful that he had. Though he didn’t know it, she was in a very unique position to protect herself, but she had a feeling he couldn’t play this gambit again.

Buildings whipped past them and Marinette realized that Chat Noir was running blindly. He vaulted over rooftops with her held snug in his arms, no clear thought beyond keeping her safe. Marinette squeezed his shoulder and he glanced down at her questioningly.

“Stop,” she said. “We need to think.”

Chat Noir looked like he wanted to protest, but did as she asked without voicing a complaint. He landed in a nearby park with lots of open space so that they could see a threat coming but pulled her underneath a canopy of trees so that they weren’t immediately visible from the street or the sky. “What now?” he asked softly. He dragged a clawed hand through his hair and bit his lip. “What if I take you to the police? They can protect you.”

“Not against an akuma,” Marinette said honestly. “Do you know what Hawk Moth’s akuma is going to be?”

He shook his head.

Marinette began to pace. “We need a long-term solution,” she said.

Chat Noir made a strangled sound in his throat.

Marinette turned to face him, arms folded over her chest like a shield. “Do you know where Hawk Moth is?” she asked. While that information wasn’t crucial to Marinette, it might be able to help Ladybug.

However, Chat Noir shook his head dejectedly. “No,” he said. “He always sends a butterfly for me. He’s got a lair underground. The entrance is in the sewers somewhere, but I wouldn’t be able to find it again. I already tried. It’s a labyrinth under there.”

Marinette bit into her thumbnail and scanned their surroundings. “You said… that Hawk Moth made you pick someone you cared about to be hurt, right?”

Chat Noir’s hands flexed convulsively. “Yeah.”

“Do I… know you as a civilian?” she asked. “Or is it because you came to see me as Chat Noir?”

He stiffened.

“The truth,” Marinette insisted.

“Both,” he admitted.

Her heart jumped in her chest.

He glanced at her beneath the fringe of his bangs nervously.

Marinette filed that admission away for later. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Once we see the akuma, you should drop me off somewhere safe and keep it busy until Ladybug arrives.”

Chat Noir turned on his heel as though about to pace away from her, hesitated, and then remained rooted beside her. “Then what?” he asked.

“You should tell Ladybug everything,” Marinette said. “Together, you have to be able to think of something.”

“And if we can’t?”

Marinette wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. “Then send Hawk Moth after me again.”

Chat Noir startled. “Marinette, no,” he protested. “What if I don’t make it in time? What if something happens to you? I can’t see you get hurt because of me.”

Marinette closed the space between them and slipped her arms around him. His arms came around her immediately, holding her close, as though he could press her underneath his armor where she would be safe. She burrowed into his embrace, resting her cheek over his heart. She listened to its beat—ragged and tumultuous with worry, with fear, with anxiety.

“Don’t let me down,” she told him softly. She hugged him a little tighter, wishing there was something she could do to protect him too.

Chat Noir shuddered in her arms. He tucked his face down into her hair and released a pent-up breath.

Marinette lost track of how long they stood like that, sheltered together from the storm outside. She became aware that Chat Noir’s heartbeat was slowing, his gasping breaths were evening out, and his panicked grip on her was relaxing. She felt the muscles in his chest beneath her cheek shift. Closing her eyes, she simply breathed him in. He smelled good, familiar, beneath the leather and magic of his suit. When he moved, the little bell at his throat jingled very softly. She had never really thought about how adorable that was. She squeezed him harder, pressing her face into his chest.

They would get through this—him and her, Chat Noir and Ladybug.

In the distance, someone finally screamed.

Chat Noir sniffled and gently withdrew from her embrace, though he remained holding her carefully by the elbows. “I guess that’s our cue.”

Marinette smiled. “Let’s get ‘em, tiger,” she said cheerfully.

Chat Noir’s lips pulled in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We should let the akuma see you,” he said. “Then, I’ll hide you somewhere safe.”

Marinette couldn’t argue that logic. It was better that the akuma think she was nearby and stay in one area searching for her than continue to tear up the city.

She looped her arms around Chat Noir’s neck and stepped into his space. He wordlessly gathered her up, hitching her against his side with one arm and extending his staff with the other. Once he had clambered onto the rooftops, he headed towards the sounds of shouting and stood poised on the edge. Down below, an outrageously-colored wolf the size of a horse was snarling and sniffling around at passersby. Marinette tightened her arms around Chat Noir’s neck, squeezing him close, at the sight of those drooling knife-filled jaws.

Mistaking her concern for his safety for fear for herself, Chat Noir rubbed her back gently and said, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “You won’t let anything happen to me.”

Chat Noir caught her eyes and she saw the words weigh on him. She wished she could take them back, could take a little of the pressure off him, but it was too late now.

“Hey Fido!” Chat Noir shouted.

The wolf’s head snapped up and its blood-red eyes zeroed in on them.

“Looking for someone?” Chat Noir shouted.

It was impossible not to see Marinette clutched to Chat Noir’s side, her arm looped around his neck. She was bright pink shape against the black of his suit. Just in case, she waved cheekily. Let Hawk Moth see that she wasn’t afraid, let Paris see that Chat Noir was still a hero, let them all see that her faith was unshakable.

With a snarl, the wolf sprang towards them. It was able to jump nearly half the height of the building. Then, its claws grappled for purchase against the bricks. It was panting and salivating, tearing its way up the building with incredible ferocity even though its body clearly wasn't made for climbing.

Marinette could smell it approaching, practically feel its hot breath, and her muscles tensed. Chat Noir kept his grip on her and on his staff. He was scanning the skyline for Ladybug, but she wouldn’t arrive until Marinette was safe. The wolf breached the edge of the rooftop with a victorious howl. Chat Noir landed one quick blow to the middle of the wolf’s chest that knocked it backwards off the roof and jumped away like a streak of lightning. He was so fast that the air was stolen out of Marinette's lungs. She clung to him, eyes stinging in the wind.

Chat Noir stopped abruptly and looked around again. “Where is Ladybug?” he muttered. “I thought she would have been here by now. I need a distraction so I can get you somewhere safe.”

“You be the distraction,” Marinette told him. “Put me down on the street near a crowd and I'll disappear. I'm a fast runner and that way, you'll have all your abilities focused on stopping that wolf from coming after me.”

Chat Noir held her tight as he nimbly leaped over an alley and landed on the rooftop beyond. “No, Marinette,” he protested. “I can't just leave you. You're in danger because of me.”

“You can't help Ladybug stop that thing with me in your arms,” she protested.

“I can't help Ladybug,” he said.

Marinette squeezed him tighter as the bottom dropped out of her stomach—and it had nothing to do with his sudden descent from the rooftop. “Yes, you can,” she insisted. “You have to.”

Chat Noir landed in the alley below and started walking briskly with her hitched against his side. “Ladybug doesn't need me,” he said. He kept his green eyes forward, unwilling or unable to look at Marinette. “She can purify the akumas all on her own. I'm nothing compared to her. Just a fool who couldn't keep one secret and now everyone I love is in jeopardy.”

Marinette had been fumbling to keep up with him, but now she dug in her heels. “Don't say that!” she protested.

In the distance, the wolf howled as it searched for Marinette.

“Maybe I should just give Hawk Moth my Miraculous,” Chat Noir said.

Marinette's heart skipped. “But, what about Ladybug?”

Chat Noir shook his head. Beneath his mask, his face was pale and pinched. “She'll be better off without me.”

“What about me?”

Chat Noir still had his arm around her waist and his grip tightened incrementally when she spoke. He couldn't look at her. He didn't want to know what kind of expression was on her face. “You wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for me,” he said. “I put you in danger, just like everyone else I care about, just like Ladybug. I was stupid and reckless—”

“You changed in public?” she interrupted.

“What?” Chat Noir asked. His eyes snapped down to meet hers. “No, I—”

“Then you must have told someone who you are,” she continued as though it was obvious.

“No,” he said. “I didn't.”

“Then, how is any of this your fault?” Marinette asked.

Chat Noir inhaled sharply.

Marinette took advantage of his surprise to wriggle out from under his arm. She ran to the mouth of the alley, silhouetted by the sunlight on the other side of the gloom. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at him, “Go! Help Ladybug! She needs you!” Before Chat Noir could protest, Marinette turned and ran as fast as she could into a shopping center nearby. She had no doubts that he could catch her if he really tried, but she hoped he would take her words to heart.

Besides, Ladybug would be on the scene just as soon as she found somewhere safe to transform.

Marinette ducked into an empty bathroom. The good thing about akuma attacks was there was rarely a line. “Ready Tikki?”

“Ready!” the kwami said brightly.

“Spots on!”

After a brisk change, Ladybug peeked out the little window before she pushed it open and swung out. She quickly retraced the route Chat Noir had taken Marinette along and found the humongous wolf pretty much where they had left it, snuffling around and roaring when it failed to locate its quarry. However, Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he wasn't looking for Marinette because he wasn't going to find her.

“Hey!” Ladybug whistled at the wolf down below. “Looking for me?”

Its head snapped up and its nose twitched as it scented her. For a moment, Marinette feared it would manage to recognize her by smell alone, but the wolf turned away with a snarl. It howled uproariously, voice echoing down the streets. As though summoned, Chat Noir appeared across the street. He froze at the sight of Ladybug, staff clutched in his hands and eyes darting between the wolf and her.

Hawk Moth's symbol flared on the wolf's face.

“I am Tracker!” the wolf shouted suddenly. “I have been sent by Chat Noir to claim Ladybug's Miraculous! Hand it over or face our fury!”

Ladybug winced, already imagining what a clip like that would do to Chat Noir’s reputation once it aired on the news. If not for the fact that she knew the truth of Chat Noir's situation, she would have felt her heart break. She removed her yoyo and flicked it, spinning out a deft and casual trick.

“Your fury?” Ladybug repeated. Her mouth lifted in a mocking smile. “I think you've got it wrong. You're about to face mine for lying about my partner like that.”

Tracker roared and leaped for her.

Ladybug gracefully swung out of the way, landing a little ways from Chat Noir. She snapped her yoyo back into her hand. “How's it going?” she asked.

Tracker had crashed through a storefront when Ladybug dodged and was now trapped amidst the rubble of the building. It groaned ominously as the massive wolf knocked out support beams and windows in its haste to tear free from its concrete prison.

Chat Noir made a strangled sound, glancing between Ladybug and Tracker. “Could be better, milady,” he admitted.

“I take it this is a threat from Hawk Moth,” she said lightly. She kept one eye on Tracker and one on her partner.

Chat Noir nodded.

“Someone you care for?” Ladybug asked.

He nodded again. “A girl I know as both a civilian and as Chat Noir,” he explained.

“She's safe?”

“I tried to keep her with me, but... she wanted me to help you.”

“Good,” Ladybug said. She flashed him an easy smile. “I want that too.”

Chat Noir's expression would have been adorable if it wasn't so sad. “Ladybug, I can't—I need your Miraculous. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep my family safe from Hawk Moth. I can't—”

“You don't have to, Chaton,” she said. She began to spin her yoyo, keeping up a shield. “We need to take Hawk Moth down and I think you're in the right position to get us the information we need. Fight against me, put on a show, but tell me everything you know and everything you learn. When the time is right and we have our opportunity, it'll be you and me against him. Just like it always has been.”

Chat Noir's jade eyes were bright and sparkling. “My Lady,” he breathed.

“Now.”

Ladybug hurled her yoyo at his feet, snared his ankle, and sent him spinning away into an overgrown bush in front of a flower shop. Tracker finally freed itself from the storefront and shook out its fur. The ruined building creaked, groaned, and finally collapsed inward. Tracker stomped up the street, drooling and growling. Ladybug had already spotted its collar when she was Marinette. Considering there was nothing human left of Tracker's form, the akuma had to be in that necklace. It was easy, as far as puzzles went, but Hawk Moth must have chosen Tracker quickly to go after Marinette.

Ladybug whistled shrilly.

Tracker whined in pain, shaking its head.

Chat Noir wrest himself out of the bush. There were petals and leaves stuck in his wild hair. His ears flattened with her whistle.

Ladybug nodded, once.

He extended his staff and dove at her from the side.

Ladybug let him take her down, sending them both rolling across the pavement. Chat Noir took care to cushion her knees and elbows as they tussled. When they came to a stop, his face was hovering above hers like a waxing moon and her breath caught at his proximity. He looked so tired, worn thin and jagged at the edges. She wanted to hug him.

Instead, Ladybug planted her feet in his chest and rolled him over her head. He used his staff to vault away rather than landing hard on the pavement, putting Tracker between them. The wolf raced towards Ladybug, paws pounding and cracking the street anew with its long claws. Ladybug feinted like a matador and the wolf leaped past her.

Chat Noir filled the space left by it, his lips curled into a little smile as he reached for her. Ladybug didn't move, pretending her focus was on Tracker. Chat Noir's fingers grazed her earlobe. He was so close that she imagined she could hear Hawk Moth's shriek of impotent rage when she grabbed Chat Noir by his wrist and launched him. Chat Noir landed nimbly on his feet, catlike, with his staff weighed in his hands. Tracker lunged again, fangs snarling for Ladybug's throat.

It was time to wrap this up. Any longer and Hawk Moth might realize they were faking.

Ladybug grabbed Tracker's necklace as the wolf attacked and snapped the chain in her hands. The akuma fluttered free and she quickly snared it in her yoyo. Releasing the pure spirit, she cast her Miracle Cure over Paris and watched as everything was immediately mended, including the demolished building. A breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding went out of her as the civilians stumbled out of it, no worse for the wear having been most-likely crushed to death. Again, she was grateful to Ladybug’s magic.

Chat Noir stood in the middle of the cleared street, fighting a smile. “Curse you, Ladybug!” he shouted for Hawk Moth’s benefit. “I'll have your Miraculous next time!”

Ladybug mimed punching him, hoping he caught her true intention in the gesture. 'Good job,' it said. 'Pound it.'

With that, she cast her yoyo and swung away. She had to move fast if she wanted to get back to where Chat Noir had seen Marinette disappear. She slipped in through the bathroom window again, checked to be sure she had the stalls to herself, and then changed back.

“Great job, Marinette,” Tikki said happily.

“I'd never give up on Chat,” Marinette assured her.

Marinette raced out of the bathroom, wove through the crowded plaza, and emerged back onto the street. She stood blinking in the sunlight for a moment, one hand lifted to shade her eyes. It was easy to pick out the dark smudge of Chat Noir as he searched for her. People were giving him a wide berth, watching him from the corner of their eyes like he was about to turn on them.

Marinette’s stomach tightened and she plastered on a bright smile. “Chat!” she shouted and waved.

He spotted her immediately and his face fractured with relief. He sprinted towards her, golden hair and dark tail flying.

Marinette rushed to meet him. “Hey,” she greeted.

Chat Noir wasted no time swooping her up in his arms and holding her tightly against his chest. “You’re okay!” he breathed into her shoulder. “Thank god.”

Marinette hugged him back, but the pressure of his arms on her bruised back pried a little gasp of pain from her lips. She tried to stifle it.

Chat Noir’s ear twitched and he loosened his grip so he could look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I just—I have a big bruise.”

“What?” he repeated. “Ladybug’s Cure didn’t heal you? Why?” Panic touched his face, as though Ladybug’s magic had abandoned Marinette because she was Chat Noir’s friend.

“Nothing like that,” Marinette was quick to assure him. “I already had it. It had nothing to do with the attack.”

Chat Noir looked doubtful. “You should let someone look at it.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “It’s just a bruise.”

“Still,” Chat Noir told her, “you should at least ice it.”

“I will,” she promised.

Chat Noir huffed. “No, you won’t. You’re too worried about everyone else to take proper care of yourself.”

Marinette poked her fingertip into the material of his mask. “You’re one to talk.”

“At least let me—” Chat Noir cut himself off and bit his lip.

“What?” Marinette asked.

People all around them had stopped to stare and whisper, huddled together in protective groups. A few well-meaning men looked like they were gearing up to attempt to rescue Marinette from the clutches of the evil Black Cat. Chat Noir was too busy worrying about her to notice. More than anything, Marinette wanted to avoid a fight between him and the citizens of Paris. It was one thing to fight Ladybug on equal and understanding footing—another entirely to be mobbed by innocent civilians that couldn’t withstand even a tenth of his power.

“Hey,” Marinette said lowly.

Chat Noir turned his green eyes on her. For the first time, he seemed to realize the attention he was drawing and his ears flattened with nerves.

“Get me out of here,” she said.

Chat Noir dragged his gaze away from the crowd. “But—”

Just to prove a point, Marinette turned to everyone and shouted, “Chat Noir’s is taking me home. Be safe, everyone!”

Chat Noir tensed as she looped her arms comfortably around his neck. His arm went habitually around her waist and he tugged her close before he even seemed to know what he was doing. Before anyone could protest, he lengthened his staff and shifted Marinette more fully into his embrace. He ran nimbly along the rooftops, booted steps loud compared to the buttery post-akuma-attack peace.

Now that she had been made aware of it, Marinette’s bruised back throbbed where Chat Noir’s arm was wrapped over it. She shifted and a little sound of pain escaped her lips. Chat Noir immediately gathered her up against his chest, slinging her legs over his arm and letting her burrow into his chest to take the pressure off her back.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

She had a feeling that he didn’t just mean for pressing on her bruises.

Marinette squeezed him tighter, tucking her face into the hollow between his neck and shoulder. She breathed him in.

“Where should I take you?” Chat Noir asked. “Home?”

“Take me with you,” Marinette said.

He opened his mouth to protest.

“Hawk Moth might try something again,” she told him. “He might not warn you this time.”

Chat Noir’s teeth snapped together audibly.

Marinette felt the beginnings of a growl well in his chest. She couldn’t help the bubble of warmth that built inside her at the thought of his protection.

“It’s,” Chat Noir said finally, “probably not safe.”

“For who?” Marinette asked. She rested her cheek against his armored shoulder. Up close, the material didn’t seem to be leather or armor in the traditional sense of the word. She could feel the bones of his shoulder beneath the thin material and feel the heat of his skin soaking through. “You or me?”

“Both,” Chat Noir said.

He landed from his leap and hesitated for a moment, unable to decide where to take her with the threat of Hawk Moth looming overhead. He couldn’t deny that he believed she wouldn’t be safe on her own. Hawk Moth, enraged that Chat Noir had been able to protect her, might try something worse. What if he couldn’t get to her in time? What if Ladybug washed her hands of him? What if Marinette got hurt?

Marinette was snuggled so trustingly in his arms. He didn’t want to leave her, but… how could he take her home with him? Even if his transformation wasn’t waning, his bedroom would certainly give him away. Uncertainly, he shifted his weight from foot to foot. The sunlight was warm on his black suit and his exhaustion weighed on him. His stomach growled and, despite her slight weight, his arms were tired. He just wanted to rest—he just wanted things to back to the way they had been.

“I won’t look,” Marinette continued. “Not if you don’t want me to, but… Hawk Moth knowing who you are is the worst-case scenario and it’s already happened. I’m in your corner. You said I already know you as a civilian. If I know it’s you, I can be there for you. I can help you look out for the people you care about.” She felt Chat Noir tighten his grip on her, but she didn’t pull back to see his expression.

The irony wasn’t lost on her that she was now the one asking to know the young man under the mask.

“Okay,” he said finally. “I trust you, Marinette.”

She hugged him tighter. “Thank you.”

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	5. Now You Know (Me)

I had a debilitating migraine headache yesterday. I didn't get anything done except laying in the dark and crying.

XXX

Chat Noir turned away from Marinette’s street and bounded towards his house. Marinette found herself looking at the landmarks they passed, trying to figure out who he was before they reached his home. Nothing was overly familiar to Marinette. At least, it wasn’t until Chat Noir landed on the edge of the high wall that surrounded the Agreste Estate. For a moment, Marinette didn’t think it was possible. Chat Noir was probably just passing over the mansion on his way somewhere else. However, he ran along the wall, leaped onto the roof, and shouldered through an open window into an achingly familiar room.

Once inside, he carefully eased her onto the plush red sofa, closed the window, and released his transformation. His kwami tumbled from him violently and Marinette saw that the black cat was too tired to even fly. Adrien carried him gingerly to his desk where he settled Plagg atop a familiar blue knitted scarf and handed him an entire wheel of camembert cheese from the mini-fridge. Task completed, Adrien turned his tired face towards Marinette. His smile was brittle at the edges, fragile, something that could break as easily as spun glass.

“Hi,” was all he managed.

Marinette was grateful that her voice had deserted her so that she didn’t sputter out something ridiculous. It didn’t seem possible that the long-time partner who had her back almost to a fault, who had been at her side through thick and thin, who was now suffering so terribly, was the same person that she had a crush on as a civilian, was the same person she sat behind every day in school. She could have kicked herself for not noticing save for the fact that he was in the same boat since she was Ladybug.

Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were the same.

Once she realized that, the facts came together surprisingly quickly. Chat Noir was a skilled fighter and Adrien took fencing. Chat Noir always seemed delighted to run the skyline with Ladybug because Adrien wasn’t allowed out of the house except for school, shoots, and classes. Chat Noir was funny and sweet, Adrien was charming and suave. Chat Noir always asked Ladybug to stay a little longer because Adrien was lonely. Now that she was thinking about it, she had never seen Chat Noir and Adrien in the same room and her class was akumatized all the time.

“Are you… disappointed that it’s me?” Adrien asked in the silence. His voice was low and timid.

For a moment, Marinette couldn’t match that voice with Chat Noir.

Then, she scrambled to reassure him. “No, no,” she said, “of course not! I was just surprised. I mean, I’ve been sitting behind a Hero of Paris for how long and I never even noticed?” She could tell she was starting to ramble and choked herself off, focusing instead on a point over his shoulder. He had a beautiful view of Paris from his window.

Adrien let out a breath.

Something in Marinette’s chest squeezed, making it difficult to breathe. As concerned as she was that Chat Noir would have been disappointed in Marinette underneath Ladybug’s mask, it seemed that Adrien felt just the same. When this was all over, she promised herself, they were going to have a long talk.

“Can I… get you anything?” Adrien offered. “Something to eat or drink?”

Marinette was starving from fighting, but she hesitated just a moment before admitting, “Sure. Running from an akuma really took it out of me.”

Adrien removed two bottles of low-calorie pomegranate juice from the mini-fridge and unearthed a hidden selection of junky snacks from a hollowed-out portion of his foosball table.

“Hiding your habit?” Marinette asked lightly.

Adrien gave her a wry smile along with a bag of chips, a parcel of cheese crackers, and a chocolate bar with nuts. “My father doesn’t approve of snacking,” he said, “but saving Paris really works up your appetite. If I had to make it on my model diet alone, I’d be dead on my feet.”

The thought sobered Marinette. She had never realized what Adrien went through—what her partner went through—isolated in this ivory tower with everything money could buy and nothing that it couldn’t. She peeled open the chocolate and took a bite, letting it melt on her tongue.

“Sorry,” Adrien muttered. He twisted the packet of crackers around and around in his fingers. “This must be strange for you.”

Marinette opened her chips. “Not as strange as you think,” she told him.

How funny was it that Chat Noir’s and Ladybug’s alter egos managed to find each other amidst all the thousands of citizens of Paris? The world could be so small sometimes.

Adrien paced a little, uncertain of where to sit down. The gesture was so Chat Noir that Marinette patted the space beside her on the couch out of habit. It was only once Adrien was seated beside her, his lustrous green eyes and handsome face turned towards her that she remembered to blush.

“I, um,” she fumbled. To save herself, she changed the subject, “Alya would just die if she knew you were Chat Noir.”

Adrien’s expression closed off. “If you tell her, she’ll be in real danger. Hawk Moth isn’t playing around anymore.”

“I know, I know,” Marinette said quickly. “Sorry. That was a poor choice was words. I’m just so surprised.” She caught herself and dragged a hand across her face. “This is such a mess.”

Adrien glowered at the crackers in his hand. “I don’t know how Hawk Moth found out my identity. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I just can’t think of a time when my identity could have been compromised.”

Marinette nibbled her candy bar. “Does anyone else know that you’re Chat Noir?”

Adrien shook his head even before she finished her question. “No, no one, not even Ladybug,” he told her. His voice was almost ashamed, as though he took it as a personal failure that Ladybug didn’t want to know him outside the mask. However, his eyes shone when he looked at her and said earnestly, “Just you.”

Marinette lost her breath being the subject of that stare. She almost crushed the chips in her hand. “So,” she said slowly, “that’s why you told Nino you couldn’t be friends with him anymore.”

Adrien flinched. “Yeah, I… I wanted to protect him and Alya and… you.” He raked a hand through his hair, pulling on the long locks savagely. “I’m doing a great job,” he bit out. “I almost got you killed.”

Marinette grasped his elbow and tugged his hand away. She couldn’t help but grip his fingers between hers. “That’s not true. You protected me and I know you helped Ladybug.”

“Ladybug understands what’s going on. We put on a show for Hawk Moth, but it was a temporary fix,” he said. “Hawk Moth wants our Miraculous and he’s not going to stop until he gets them.” Adrien drew his thumb over the simple white band on his finger, but his touch gentled as he stared at it. He turned his gaze towards Plagg, who had dropped into an exhausted sleep, cheese stilling hanging from his mouth, on the blue scarf.

Marinette knew her own expression was just as soft when she looked at Tikki.

She could see Chat Noir in the slope of Adrien’s nose, in the line of his mouth, in the fall of his messy blonde hair. She had always thought Adrien looked lonely and now she knew the truth. Unthinkingly, she put aside her snacks and reached for him, tucking her fingers through the cool silk of his hair. It was something she had only done for Chat Noir, touching him to offer comfort as Marinette, but Adrien reacted just the same. He turned into her fingers, his cheek and nose curling into her wrist. His warm breath puffed on her skin. He looked up at her from beneath his lashes and her lungs froze.

At his window, there came a light tap.

Adrien’s head snapped around quickly, dislodging Marinette’s gentle touch. On the other side of the glass, a single bleached butterfly fluttered like an omen of death. Adrien’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the edge of the sofa. Marinette remained seated, watching the butterfly, watching him.

“I have to go,” he said. “Hawk Moth is… summoning me.”

Marinette couldn’t bring herself to let go of him. Her fingers curled into his shirt and held him back. “Don’t go.”

“I have to go,” he repeated. “Hawk Moth knows me, knows my family, and knows my friends. If I don’t, he’s going to—”

“Send out another akuma,” Marinette interrupted. “Then Ladybug will come and her Miracle Cure will fix everything, even if he does hurt someone you care about.”

“I can’t expect that of Ladybug,” he said. “This is my problem. I can’t make her clean up my mess.”

Marinette grasped his face in her palms and tugged his attention forcefully away from the butterfly rapping at the window. “If Ladybug is half the hero you are, then she’s happy to help.”

Adrien opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to find a way to protest that didn’t undermine Ladybug. His eyes darted between the butterfly and her blue eyes. Finally, he cupped his hand over hers. “You’re right,” he admitted. He leaned appreciatively into her touch, eyes fluttering shut. His lashes were long and golden, lying against his pale cheeks. “Even just now,” he murmured, “in the fight against Tracker, she didn’t give up on me. She wants to find a way to take down Hawk Moth.”

“I think she’s got the right idea,” Marinette agreed.

Adrien blinked at her and then smiled. “Okay,” he said faintly. “Marinette, mind brainstorming with me?”

Marinette smiled. “Of course not.”

“But, how can I get any of my ideas to Ladybug?” Adrien muttered.

“If we come up with anything good, we can have Alya post it on her LadyBlog,” Marinette suggested.

“Good idea,” Adrien said brightly. “Okay, okay.” Pensively, he rose from the couch and paced to his desk. He carefully moved Plagg and returned with a notepad. Once he was seated beside her again, he stared hard at the butterfly. It had stopped flying and was hanging against the glass, little silver feet clinging.

“What is it?” Marinette asked.

“I should go,” he said.

“But—”

In case the butterfly could hear them and somehow relay his plan to Hawk Moth, Adrien tapped the notepad and wrote, ‘Remember Hansel and Gretel?’

Marinette raised a brow. Then, it clicked.

Adrien smiled at her, pleased that she had caught on to his idea. ‘What should I use?’

Marinette rose from the couch and paced his room, looking at his bookshelves and all the latest-and-greatest things that Gabriel Agreste could buy rather than spend time with his only son. Then, she noticed the perfect thing. It was subtle, easily-hidden on Chat Noir’s person, and wouldn’t be out of place in an underground sewer. Tapping the top of the bank, she smiled at Adrien.

“Okay,” he said aloud. “I’m coming.” Gently, he woke Plagg.

The little kwami groaned and his green eyes cracked open. “So soon?”

“I know, Plagg,” Adrien said softly. He stroked the short soft fur. “Please.”

Plagg heaved a big breath, but didn’t protest further.

In a flash of green light, Chat Noir stood in Adrien’s place. “Will you stay here?” he asked Marinette. “And wait for me?”

Marinette couldn’t resist hugging him tightly as she slipped the contents into his pocket. “Of course. Hurry back.”

Chat Noir nodded, pushed the window open, and slipped out before the butterfly could get into his room. He wasn’t sure if the white butterflies were dangerous, but now didn’t seem like a good time to find out. He lingered outside his window for a moment, looking back through the highly-polished glass at Marinette.

She gave him a little wave and a smile.

Chat Noir nodded at her and then sprang away. The butterfly quickly overtook him and he was forced to chase it through the streets of Paris. It brought him to yet another entrance to the sewers and guided him into the darkness. This time, though, he dropped a shiny euro at each turn in the tunnels, leaving himself or Ladybug a route to retrace. His heart pounded with excitement.

…

Once Adrien—Chat Noir—left to follow the butterfly, Marinette resisted the urge to poke through his private things. She wanted to know what he kept under his pillow, what was hanging in the back of his closet, what kind of cream he stocked in the bathroom, but that would be a breach of trust and that was the last thing Adrien needed right now.

Instead, she entertained herself looking at his clearly-visible things from the knick-knacks on his desk, including several more ladybug patterned pens, to his well-used rock wall. She peered over his collection of games, marveling that some of them weren’t even out yet. She turned on the television once she found the remote, but there was only another newscast about Chat Noir’s betrayal of Ladybug. She couldn’t bear to watch that. She turned the TV off again.

Tikki flew out of her purse. “Are you okay, Marinette?”

“Other than the obvious?” Marinette blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

She studied his bookshelves, taking note of which ones had been read the most often. When she saw one that interested her, she curiously pulled it out and skimmed the summary. Surely Adrien wouldn’t grudge her reading his favorite book, especially when only propaganda was playing on television.

Marinette carried the book back to the sofa and sank down.

Tikki perched on her shoulder. “It was a good idea to have Chat Noir reveal himself to you. This way, you can help him even when you aren’t Ladybug.”

“I’m glad you think so, Tikki,” she said and traced the cover. “I couldn’t just leave him alone.”

Tikki hugged Marinette’s cheek. “That’s why you’re Ladybug,” she said. “We’ll figure this out.”

“I know,” Marinette agreed. “Once we know there Hawk Moth’s lair is, we can take back the Butterfly Miraculous.”

“And the Peacock,” Tikki added.

Marinette rubbed the top of her kwami’s head. “One problem at a time,” she said.

Tikki nodded in agreement.

Then, there came a rap at Adrien’s bedroom door.

Tikki shot into Marinette’s bag, but Marinette wasn’t as quick on her feet. She just stood there, clutching Adrien’s book with wide stricken eyes when the door opened to reveal none other than Adrien’s stern father, Gabriel Agreste. Marinette’s heart stopped and her mouth fell open. She fumbled for an excuse, but none came. How could she explain being here when she hadn’t come in through the front door and the walls surrounding the mansion were too high and smooth to climb? She was trapped.

Gabriel didn’t make a sound. He stood for a moment, just staring at her with his steely blue eyes. Then, finally, he said, “Who might you be?”

Marinette stumbled over her own name. “Marinette,” she managed. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Gabriel stepped inside and closed the door firmly. “How did you come to be in my son’s room?”

Marinette swallowed. “Um, we go to school together. Adrien, uh, snuck me in so we could work on a p-project.”

“Right,” Gabriel said. His voice and face gave nothing of his emotions away. “Then, where is he?”

Marinette’s heart pounded. “He just,” she said, “went to the bathroom.”

Gabriel was looking at her very closely. His eyes were like chips of ice, trailing along her face and body, picking out insecurities and tiny details. He took several steps towards her and his footsteps were almost silent.

Marinette backed away, keeping the book between them like a meager shield. She bumped against the rock wall, one of the handholds pressing uncomfortably into her bruised back.

Gabriel kept advancing until they were a breadth apart.

Marinette gritted her teeth and stared into Gabriel’s eyes. “Would you mind taking a step back?” she asked firmly.

Gabriel’s hands slammed down on either side of her head. The slap of his palms was loud and ringing in her ears.

She flinched, but didn’t cower.

“You’re Ladybug,” Gabriel said. His lips stretched into a tight smile. “Aren’t you?”

Cold sweat broke out on the back of Marinette’s neck and her knuckles whitened on Adrien’s book. A dark thought took up root in her head. “No,” she told him. “I’m not.”

“You are,” he ground out. “How else would you have gotten in here?”

“I told you,” she said. “Adrien snuck me in.”

“I have cameras,” Gabriel said. “I saw you come in with him.”

Marinette’s heel pressed against the rock wall. Her muscles coiled, tensed to spring. “If you saw me come in,” she insisted, “then you already know I’m not Ladybug.”

Gabriel’s breath was hot on her face.

Ladybug’s persona stiffened her spine and lent steel to her voice. Marinette chased her worry away and instead asked him, “Why would you think I’m Ladybug?”

Gabriel blinked in surprise. All at once, he backed off and slipped his hands behind his back. “My apologies,” he said. “I’m just looking out for my son. Running around in that skintight outfit with a cat-boy, Ladybug positively must not be a good influence on our young people.”

Marinette didn’t move from her position. She kept her eyes on Gabriel.

“You understand, don’t you, Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Sure,” she said slowly.

“Excellent,” Gabriel said. He turned smartly on his heel, walked away, and closed the door behind himself.

Marinette crossed Adrien’s room and listened at the door for a moment. She heard Gabriel’s footsteps retreating, but turned the lock regardless. Then, she shut herself in Adrien’s bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the faucet before she opened up her purse.

Tikki’s ageless dark eyes peered out.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Marinette whispered.

Tikki nodded, distress written clearly on her face.

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

…

Chat Noir followed the butterfly for what felt like an endless amount of time. It was only after he started seeing his dropped coins that he realized he was being led in circles. He veered off from the butterfly, choosing different tunnels seemingly at random, dropping coins all the while. Finally, he recognized the passage where all the tunnels converged and he saw the elevator into Hawk Moth’s lair. He boarded and punched the button for down. The lift lurched into motion, grinding and clanking its way into the abyss below. The doors peeled open.

“Hawk Moth?” he called.

However, the butterfly-filled room was empty. Only the screen with the view of Paris remained.

Chat Noir worried a coin between his claws. If Hawk Moth wasn’t here, then where…? Oh, no! The thought sprang through Adrien, unbidden—Marinette!

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	6. (Don't) Let Me Win

Sorry I forgot to update yesterday. We are doing a huge home remodel at my house and things kind of got away from me.

XXX

Chat Noir flew through the city as though he had wings. His staff could reach incredible heights and he used it to clear blocks at a time. His muscles burned even with Chat Noir’s powers, his breath came in little heaving gasps, and his eyes stung with the speed. He had to get home. He would never forgive himself if something happened to Marinette. Chat Noir had never been so happy to see the Agreste estate and practically crashed through his own bedroom window.

“Marinette!”

Marinette’s head snapped up in surprise when he fell inside. She scrambled to help him back to his feet. “Are you alright?” she asked urgently. “What happened? Did Hawk Moth hurt you?”

Chat Noir pawed over her face, her shoulders, her arms, and her torso, with shaking hands. However, she appeared unharmed. He panted, lungs burning from his panicked sprint through the city. It took a moment for her words to sink in. “You mean, Hawk Moth wasn’t here?” he asked.

Marinette tensed.

“Was he here?” Chat Noir’s claws tightened around her hands. “Did he attack you? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Marinette assured him. The words tasted ashy on her tongue. How could she explain this to Adrien? She had hoped she was wrong but if he had gone to see Hawk Moth and he wasn’t in his lair, meanwhile Marinette was here and his father had… “Change back,” she said. “We need to talk.”

Chat Noir’s spine stiffened. He released his transformation, settled Plagg back onto the scarf with some more cheese, and then returned to Marinette’s side. Without his mask on, she could see how pale and drawn his face was. There were dark circles under his green eyes and the whites were bloodshot.

Marinette took his hands and led him to the couch.

Adrien folded up next to her. “What happened?” he asked when she didn’t immediately begin. “Hawk Moth was here, wasn’t he?”

“He wasn’t,” she confirmed.

He let out a big breath, shuddering with relief. “Thank god.”

“But your dad was,” she told him.

If possible, Adrien looked more upset by that than if Hawk Moth had been in his bedroom. “W-what did my father say to you?”

“He accused me of being Ladybug,” Marinette said.

Adrien’s brow wrinkled. Of all the things he had been expecting her to say, that wasn’t one of them. He rubbed his tired face and his aching eyes. “Why would he think that?”

Marinette chewed her lip. She would have thought it impossible, but Adrien was Chat Noir. She saw him every day, sat right behind him in class, and she had never known his identity. Tikki had mentioned that their Miraculous did a lot to hide their identities from those closest to them, but could it really be so obvious, so cruel, so…

“I think your father is Hawk Moth,” she said.

Adrien’s hands were cold in hers. “What?” he repeated.

Marinette tightened her grasp on his fingers, refusing to let him pull away from her. “Just listen to me,” she pleaded. “Let me explain.”

Adrien sucked in a ragged breath. “Okay, okay,” he murmured.

Marinette told Adrien as much of their interaction as she could remember word-for-word. Then, she explained, “He tried to intimidate me. He backed me against the wall.”

Adrien didn’t let go of her hands, but he slumped on the sofa beside her. “I… I don’t want to believe it.”

Marinette leaned her shoulder into his. “I know,” she said gently, “but I think there’s a strong possibility that Hawk Moth is much closer than we thought.”

Adrien stared around his room, looking out the window at the setting sun. The blood-red light played eerily on his face. “The cameras,” he muttered.

“That explains how he could have discovered your identity without you even realizing it,” Marinette said.

Adrien nodded thoughtfully. “I thought there was only a camera at the front gate. If my father’s been watching me,” he heaved a sigh, “he definitely would have seen Chat Noir coming and going from my window. He could have figured out my identity and I never would have known. If he is…” Adrien’s voice cracked.

Marinette’s heart ached for him. She rasped her thumb over the ridge of his knuckles.

“If Hawk Moth is my father, why would he do this to me?” Adrien managed. His eyes glittered with unshed tears. “Why would he threaten my friends?”

Marinette looked down at their joined hands. Adrien’s Miraculous was white and plain without Plagg powering it. She drew her thumb across the flat surface. “Because he needs you to bring him Ladybug’s Miraculous. You’re the only one who can get close to her,” she murmured. “She trusts you. She needs you.”

“She doesn’t need me,” Adrien said softly. He watched her tracing his Miraculous. “Maybe I should just give my Miraculous to you, Marinette. You could help Ladybug.”

Marinette shook her head. “No, Adrien,” she said. “Ladybug needs you. You two have been side by side for years. There’s no one else who could take your place, not before the biggest fight of your lives.”

“I don’t think I can fight my father,” Adrien admitted.

Marinette bit her lip. “I don’t think you have a choice.”

Adrien closed his eyes. He reached for her slowly, giving her time to pull away, but Marinette went easily into his arms. She hugged him tightly, resting her chin over his shoulder. His back felt thin beneath her palms and he shuddered out a breath. Some part of her was cold, but it warmed as they held each other.

“I know it’s hard,” she said, “but what Hawk Moth is doing to you and Ladybug is wrong. He threatened you and your friends and your loved ones. He has to be stopped.”

Adrien nodded into her shoulder, his face tucked down against her shirt. “I know you’re right,” he murmured.

Marinette slipped her fingers into his hair, holding his head against her. She rested her cheek on his hair, breathing him in. “I’m here for you, Adrien,” she said. “Whatever you need.”

“In a little bit,” he said softly. “I’ll deal with all this in just a little bit.”

Marinette wanted to protest. Her nerves were humming with anxiety and excitement. They knew who Hawk Moth was, they could stop all of this now, and they could be free—finally, after years of lying and fighting. She wanted it to be over. She wanted to see Chat Noir safe, she wanted to see Adrien smile, she wanted… to tell him who she was. She wanted him to know that Ladybug had never given up on him, had never doubted him, had been at his side the whole time.

“Plagg is exhausted,” Adrien continued. “And so am I. For now, let’s eat something.”

Marinette nodded, unable to argue that logic.

“Will you stay?” he asked. His voice was low, as though he feared she would say no.

Marinette smiled into his hair. “Of course, kitty,” she said softly.

Adrien chuckled softly. “That’s what Ladybug always calls me.”

For a moment, Marinette stiffened, but she let it pass. “It’s a good nickname.”

Adrien withdrew from her embrace and mopped his face with his sleeve. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, but Adrien was a pretty crier, much to Marinette’s chagrin. “What would you like to eat? I can order out anything or I can ask the chef to make something.”

“Whatever you want,” Marinette told him.

Adrien stared out the window at the darkening cityscape for a long moment. The first stars were beginning to peek out in the east and the moon was almost full. “Chinese,” he said finally. “And a pizza. Oh, and some ice cream.” His smile was stretched wide, like butter over too much bread.

Marinette swallowed. It felt like Adrien was preparing for his final meal and she couldn’t blame him. “Sounds good,” she agreed.

Adrien reluctantly withdrew from her, grabbed his phone, and called everything in. Then, he intercommed downstairs to Nathalie. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I have a friend over and I ordered dinner,” he told her. “Can you bring it up to us once it arrives?”

“Very well,” Nathalie said.

If Adrien hadn’t decided that Marinette was right and his father was Hawk Moth, Nathalie’s lack of protest would have clinched it.

Adrien turned away from the intercom. “Want to play while we wait?”

Marinette didn’t, but she could see that Adrien desperately wanted to forget—even for a little while. She couldn’t deny him that. “Sure,” she said.

He powered up his massive television, plugged in his game station, and handed her a controller. “Don’t let me win,” he told her. “I can take it.”

Marinette believed him, but she let him win once anyway just to see the smile on his face. He looked so much like Chat Noir when he was happy. With a jolt, she wondered if that was why she had never recognized him outside his suit. When had she ever seen Adrien look this happy, this carefree?

“You let me win, didn’t you?” he asked.

Marinette grinned. “I’ll never tell.”

He looked about to protest, but there was a knock at the door. He answered it and let Nathalie in bearing an entire rolling cart of drinks, greasy foods, and desserts.

Nathalie adjusted her glasses and said, “Your father bids that you still go to bed on time. Tomorrow is still a school day.”

“I will,” Adrien assured her.

She departed, heels click-clacking on the floor.

Marinette drifted over, her stomach growling despite their earlier snack.

However, Adrien was frozen at the cart. His distorted reflection stared back at him from the shiny silver covers over something that their chef had made despite Adrien’s to-go orders. “It’s true, isn’t it?” he asked Marinette. “And my father is letting me have this one last hurrah before…”

“You don’t know that,” Marinette said. “Besides, you and Ladybug will win. You always win.”

Adrien didn’t dispute her, but it was clear he didn’t believe they would win against Hawk Moth. He pushed the cart over to the couch and began unloading it. “Let’s eat,” he said.

Plagg drifted over, rubbing his eyes. “Is that pizza I smell?”

Adrien made Plagg up a plate of everything cheesy that he had ordered.

While his back was turned, Marinette slipped Tikki a fortune cookie.

Adrien put on a pointless television show while he and Marinette ate. They chatted aimlessly about school and books, games and stories, hobbies and clothes. When Marinette couldn’t eat another bite of cookies and ice cream, she flopped beside him on the couch and their shoulders brushed. Adrien was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes glassy and distant.

“You can come home with me,” Marinette said. “We can explain it to my parents. They won’t mind.”

Adrien glanced at her and he looked tempted before shaking his head. “Thank you, Marinette, but we can’t risk their safety. It’s bad enough I’ve risked yours.”

Marinette squeezed his hand. “I’m here for you.”

Adrien interlaced their fingers easily and then brought them to his mouth in a chaste kiss. “I’m glad you were with me today,” he said. “Thank you.”

Marinette couldn’t help but flush, even though Chat Noir had done the same thing to Ladybug a thousand times. It was different when she could feel his lips on her skin, when she could see his expression, when she knew him inside and out. “It’s nothing,” she assured him. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Adrien lowered her hand. “I should get you home. It’s late.”

Marinette glanced outside where the moon was high and everything was silvery, but nodded.

Adrien transformed, opened the window, and gathered her up in his arms. She curled against him contentedly, arms looped around his neck and her legs thrown over his arm. He sprang from his roof and nimbly ran along the high wall that separated the Agreste mansion from the rest of the world. His steps were certain, practiced, easy. He had been slipping out of his room for the better part of two years to join Ladybug on nighttime patrols.

Though Marinette was used to seeing Paris from the skyline as Ladybug, there was something different about being held in Chat Noir’s arms as the streets and buildings flashed by. She had never really thought about how gentle he was, both with her and with Ladybug. His hands, though tipped with long claws, were tender and cautious. She could feel the heat of his body through his suit, the steady thump-thump of his heart and the pulse of his breath. She could smell his cologne and shampoo, his skin and something that was purely Adrien beneath. She snuggled contentedly in his arms, resting her head against his shoulder.

The night danced around them, stars and lights twinkling to unheard music. It wasn’t late enough for the City of Lovers to be silent. Cars were still traveling, a few people were out walking, and shops were still open. Someone laughed on the street below. As they passed by an open balcony, Marinette heard a lullaby inside. Her heart warmed despite what loomed ahead of them.

It took her a little while to notice that they weren’t simply taking the long way to the bakery. They were headed somewhere else entirely.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Chat Noir looked down at her in his arms. His expression was too soft for her to fear his intentions. “I wanted to show you something, if that’s okay,” he said.

Marinette gave him a little squeeze. “It’s fine.”

Chat Noir’s pace was unhurried. He ran and leaped and vaulted when necessary, but walked more often than not. Before long, Marinette recognized the plaza where the Eiffel Tower stood proud and tall. Ladybug and Chat Noir met there often after it was closed to visitors. There was something special about having it all to themselves, the city spread beneath them and the endless sky overhead. Her stomach flipped at the thought of being here with him as herself, knowing he was Adrien. It was almost too romantic.

Chat Noir held her against him with one arm, freeing up the other to help him climb. She held him tightly and was not afraid in the least. Before long, they were on the highest point of the tower and Chat Noir let her feet touch the metal support beam. The wind blew against them, tossing Marinette’s hair into her face.

“Don’t worry,” he said gently. His hands were still on her, gripping her lightly. “I won’t let you fall.”

Marinette smiled as she straightened her hair and rested her back against his chest. “I know,” she said and then breathed out, “It’s beautiful.”

They stood in companionable silence, gazing down at the city. Marinette had seen the view plenty of times and it was always stunning. However, on a night like tonight, she couldn’t help but think it didn’t hold a candle to the young man standing beside her. She picked Adrien’s features out of Chat Noir’s, marveling once again how she had never noticed when it seemed so obvious. Chat Noir caught her looking at him and smiled.

“See something you like?” he asked.

A little thread of Ladybug’s sass came to the forefront. “Of course,” Marinette said and pointedly looked out over Paris.

“Meowch, Princess,” Chat Noir said. However, his arms were still around her waist and he rested his chin on her shoulder.

So high up and without the protection of Ladybug’s suit, it wasn’t long before Marinette found herself shivering despite the heat of Chat Noir at her back.

Chat Noir was careful to hold her and block most of the wind with his body, but it was too cool. He let out a sigh and gingerly gathered her back into his arms. “I’ll get you home now, Marinette,” he said.

“Thank you for showing me,” she said as he made his way down. “It was amazing.”

“Anytime,” he offered.

Chat Noir still didn’t hurry, but he didn’t take any more detours to the bakery. Before long, they were on the neighbor’s roof, looking down at the brightly-lit shop. “Should I drop you off out front so your parents can see you come home? Or bring you up to your balcony?”

“I should see them,” she said. “Go to the front door.”

Chat Noir landed lightly and set her feet on the sidewalk.

She caught his hand before he could start to leave. “Do you want to come inside?”

The lights from the shop reflected in Chat Noir’s eyes. “I shouldn’t.”

Marinette tugged on him lightly. “You can have some pastries. My dad makes the best croissants in all of Paris.”

Even though they had eaten a veritable feast only a little earlier, Chat Noir’s lips pulled into a small smile. “Well, how can I resist that? Should I change back or…?”

“Whatever you want,” she said.

Chat Noir hesitated a moment before tugging her away from the front door and into the shelter of an alleyway. He released his transformation and caught Plagg in his cupped palms. “Do you think you could give me something for Plagg to eat?” Adrien asked.

Marinette nodded.

Adrien’s smile was bright as he tucked Plagg into his shirt and followed Marinette through the back door into her family’s bakery. Immediately, the warmth from the ovens and the smells of good food soaked into his skin. He tightened his grip on Marinette’s fingers and realized with a jolt that he was still holding her hand.

“Maman,” Marinette called. “I’m home.”

Sabine came around from behind the counter to hug Marinette. “Welcome home, ma chérie.”

Adrien hastily let go of Marinette’s hand. “Hello, Madame Cheng,” he began.

Sabine chuckled and embraced him too. “It’s late,” she said chidingly. “Where were you?”

“Sorry, Maman,” Marinette said as she helped herself to some croissants and cookies from the case. “After the akuma attack, Adrien and I lost track of time.”

“You should have called,” Sabine said sternly. “I was worried sick.”

Marinette kissed her mother’s cheek. “Sorry, Maman.”

Sabine let out her breath. “Anyway, you should go upstairs and say hello to your father. Adrien, are you going to need a ride home?”

“Um, no,” he said. “I’ll have a car pick me up.”

Sabine added a few more delicacies to the plate Marinette had made. “Well, eat up. You look like you’re about to blow away,” she said and patted Marinette on the shoulder. “Go on up now.”

Marinette beckoned Adrien behind the counter, through a door, and up into the apartment above the bakery. The smell of sweets and the warmth followed. Tom was in the living room with the news turned on at a low volume while he cleaned up the dinner dishes. He stopped what he was doing to greet Marinette when she entered, sweeping her up into a big squeezing hug.

Adrien’s chest felt hollowed out. In the sunlight of Marinette’s home, his dark mansion was more like a tomb.

Tom kissed both Marinette’s cheeks. “Welcome home!”

Marinette laughed and her father set her back on her feet. “Papa, have you met Adrien?”

Tom held out his hand and Adrien shook it as firmly as he could manage. “I believe so,” he said. “Have you eaten?”

“We’re about to,” Marinette said and brandished the plate of baked goods.

“Cocoa?” Tom offered.

“Please,” Marinette said. She was still a little chilled from the night wind.

Tom puttered around the kitchen, rattling pots and humming to himself.

Adrien sank onto the couch beside Marinette. His eyes strayed to the news feed of Chat Noir and Ladybug’s earlier fight. People were trying to figure out what had happened to put the two superheroes on opposite sides, but no one knew the truth. Adrien wasn’t sure if he was grateful or saddened.

Marinette changed the channel.

Adrien turned to look at her but she thrust the plate into his face.

“Have some,” she said.

Adrien took a croissant with a small smile and bit into the flaky layers. He snuck some to Plagg.

Tom set two mugs on the coffee table in front of them and settled down in the arm chair with his own mug. Marinette chatted easily with her father. Adrien listened, not enviously, as they asked each other questions about their day. Tom regaled them with a story of his newest croissant creation, which had sold out in a few hours that morning. Marinette told him how exciting it was to be with Chat Noir during Tracker’s attack. She mourned that she hadn’t been able to see the akuma cleansed.

“You should be happy Chat Noir hid you someplace safe,” Tom said firmly. “A fight like that is no place for you, Marinette.”

Marinette waved away his concern. “Chat Noir was never going to let Tracker get me.”

“I know he’s still a good person, but something isn’t right, Marinette,” Tom said. “You need to be careful until he and Ladybug are a team again.”

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I will, Papa,” Marinette promised.

How was it that Marinette’s father was concerned for her, Ladybug, and Chat Noir alike, while it seemed his own father was Hawk Moth and purposefully causing him pain? Adrien tightened his grip on his cocoa mug, feeling the warmth press into his bones. He cleared his throat before he was able to speak. “I should really get going,” he said.

Tom rose from his chair. “Are you sure you don’t need a lift?”

“I’ve got it covered,” Adrien said.

“I’ll walk you out,” Marinette offered.

Together, they headed back downstairs, bid farewell to Sabine as she packaged the leftovers from the bakery, and then stepped outside.

Marinette hugged herself against the chill. “Promise you won’t do anything rash,” she said once the door had swung shut.

Adrien was too tired to fight his father or Hawk Moth tonight. “I promise,” he told her.

Marinette hugged him tightly, squeezing the air from his lungs ferociously.

Adrien tucked his face into her hair and breathed her in, taking comfort from her for the last time. She couldn’t be with him in the upcoming battle and he wouldn’t want her involved in such a dangerous fight anyway. When they drew apart, he transformed. “See you, Marinette,” he said.

She waved slightly.

With that, Chat Noir extended his staff, reached the rooftops, glanced at Marinette one more time, and then ran. The night whipped through his hair and dragged at his face. That way, it was easier to pretend that the stinging in his eyes was from the wind and not from tears.

…

After Marinette had showered and changed into her pajamas, she flopped next to Tikki on her bed. Together, they lay looking through the skylight at the glowing night beyond. It felt lonely and overwhelming without Chat Noir at her side. Marinette turned on her side and cuddled into Tikki.

“What if I’m wrong, Tikki?” Marinette asked. “What if Gabriel isn’t really Hawk Moth?”

Tikki hugged Marinette’s thumb. “All the signs are there. You won’t know for certain until you reclaim the Butterfly Miraculous.”

Marinette sighed heavily and buried her face in her pillow. She wished more than ever that she could talk to someone about this, but the only person who would understand had just left without knowing the truth of her identity. Now wasn’t the time to reveal herself either.

Tikki made a strange noise.

Marinette peered at her. “What was that?”

“Chat Noir is trying to call Ladybug,” Tikki explained.

Marinette transformed, scraped herself out of bed, climbed onto her balcony, and leaped to the rooftop across the way. Only there did she answer Chat Noir’s call. He hadn’t gone through the trouble of leaving his room, though Marinette wouldn’t have recognized his bookshelves if she hadn’t spent part of the afternoon examining them.

“Hey, My Lady,” Chat Noir said softly. “Thanks for answering. I was worried you wouldn’t.”

“Anything for you, Kitty,” she said. She drew her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. “I just had to get out of my room. How are you?”

“I’ve been better,” he admitted. “I… I think I know who Hawk Moth is.”

Ladybug continued to gaze at him through her compact’s small screen. “Who?”

Chat Noir heaved a big breath out and looked away. “I think it’s my father,” he said.

Ladybug’s heart ached for him all over again, even though she had been the one to suggest it to him. “How do you know?”

“After the akuma attack earlier, Hawk Moth wasn’t happy. He summoned me and I had to go when he called, but he wasn’t there. His butterfly was just leading me in circles. When I got back, it turns out my father had threatened a friend of mine. He thought she was Ladybug,” Chat Noir explained. “I don’t know how anyone other than my father could have found out my identity either. I’ve been so careful. I just…”

“I’m here for you,” Ladybug assured him. “We’ll face him together.”

“It’s not that, Ladybug,” Chat Noir said softly. “If Hawk Moth really is my father, then what will I do? I don’t have anyone else in my life.”

Ladybug wanted to assure him that everything would be fine, that she would be there for him, that they would always have each other—but those words were empty. They might be heroes, but they were still young. The world of adults would tear them apart, indestructible suits or no. “Whatever happens,” Ladybug said finally, “we’ll face it together.”

Chat Noir looked at her with luminous eyes. “And after?”

“When all this is over,” Ladybug continued, “I’ll tell you who I am. I’ll be there for you however I can.”

Chat Noir breathed in sharply. “Milady, you can’t—”

“Once Hawk Moth is gone, there will be no danger. There’s no reason we can’t know each other when this is over.”

Chat Noir was silent, his breathing coming faintly through their connection.

“Okay?” Ladybug continued. “When this is over, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “Okay.”

They sat together, the communication lines open, neither saying anything for a while. Chat Noir’s ragged breathing evened out and Ladybug’s head dropped against her forearm. She was tired and Chat Noir looked exhausted, but they weren’t ready to part. Marinette wished she’d asked Chat Noir to sneak into her room after she had seen him off. She wanted to hold him.

“It’s late and I should get some sleep for tomorrow,” she said softly.

“Of course,” he said.

“Before I go, just in case, tell me who your father is.”

Chat Noir’s breath hitched again, but he said, “Gabriel Agreste.”

Ladybug nodded thoughtfully. “You’re his son, Adrien?”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“Goodnight, my kitty,” she said. “Tomorrow, we’ll end this.”

“Goodnight. See you then, My Lady.”

Ladybug ended the call, made her way back home, and dropped in through the skylight. She released her transformation and cuddled Tikki under her chin. The thought of tomorrow loomed over her, but she wasn’t nervous. No matter what happened, no matter who he was behind the mask, she would stop Hawk Moth from hurting Adrien any further.

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	7. (No) Choice: Part I

Ooh, I almost forgot to post today. I spent what felt like a lifetime at JoAnn Fabrics today picking patterns for a baby shower quilt.

XXX

Adrien was still exhausted when he woke the next morning. Plagg was snoring on the pillow beside him, a wrinkle drawn between his little brows. Adrien wanted to sleep longer, wanted to be at peak form for today, but his mind was restless. His heart and head both ached. He rolled out of bed, padded into the bathroom, and stood under the steaming water until he felt human again. He dressed in clean jeans and a soft cotton shirt. Tugging on a jacket and socks, he turned on the television while he was brushing his teeth.

Though he didn’t really want to, he flipped to the news to see if anything new had developed. However, the image of the Eiffel Tower, leaning precariously and leaping with flames had the toothbrush clattering from his hand immediately. Adrien punched up the volume, his heart thudding violently against his ribs.

“This is Nadja Chamack! What you’re seeing here is live footage.”

The screen crackled and jumped with static. Something broke loose from the Eiffel Tower and crashed to the ground below. It was burning, catching a nearby vehicle on fire. There was a whoosh as the gas tank ignited and then the fire blazed out of control. The footage wobbled dangerously, tracking across the ground before settling on the tower again.

“What you’re seeing,” Nadja continued. Her voice was hoarse from shouting, “appears to be Ladybug fighting Hawk Moth. He has a hostage and Ladybug is trying to get the girl to safety but—”

The cameraman zoomed in. Flames licked up the sides of the Eiffel Tower, finding fuel where there shouldn’t have been any on the metal structure. Hawk Moth was there, but his dark wicked figure was hard to make out. He was leaping from shadow to shadow, backlit by the flames, while Ladybug chased him. It was hard to tell how Ladybug was faring. The image was too unsteady and too grainy from the distance.

“Plagg!” Adrien shouted. “We have to go!”

Plagg jolted awake immediately.

“The hostage is,” Nadja continued, “oh my god! That’s Marinette!”

Adrien’s blood turned to ice.

The cameraman tried to focus on the hostage, tied to the center spire of the tower. Adrien couldn’t be sure it was Marinette, but he knew Marinette often babysat Nadja’s daughter. He didn’t doubt that Nadja had been able to make Marinette out between the distance and the smoke.

His transformation ripped over him and Adrien leaped out the window without ever turning off the TV. He dashed through Paris, his legs eating up the rooftops and buildings desperately. He dropped at one point to run on all fours like an animal, his heart racing and his lungs screaming with effort. He could smell the smoke and hear the screaming long before he saw the Eiffel Tower.

Finally, it came into view. It looked worse than it had on the television. The fire was leaping higher and the sky was filled with dark smoke. Adrien didn’t pause to catch his breath or take in the situation. He flew towards the tower and immediately scaled it. He leaped, almost missed the railing, and hauled himself onto the highest balcony. Staggering to his feet, he paused for only an instant. Should he help Ladybug or rescue Marinette?

Hawk Moth spotted him first, smiling wickedly when Chat Noir landed. “Kind of you to join us, Adrien,” he said flatly.

Ladybug’s eyes snapped gratefully to Chat Noir’s face. “Chat, you’re here.”

“Chat!” Marinette screamed.

Not once had he heard Marinette sound so afraid.

Chat Noir spun towards her. The flames were too close, licking closer, and the metal she was tied to was probably burning her. Ladybug’s Miracle Cure or no, he had to get her out of here. He made his choice and leaped to free her, claws lengthening to slice through the ropes.

Someone struck him from the side.

Chat Noir tumbled violently and smashed into the railing. The overheated metal snapped and fell to the ground below. It was only his reflexes that allowed him to catch hold of the edge and swing himself back onto the balcony in a defensive crouch. Who had attacked him? Had Ladybug turned on him?

However, Mayura stood between Chat Noir and Marinette. Though Ladybug and Chat Noir had seen and fought the Peacock in fleeting moments, she usually avoided combat due to the status of her broken Miraculous. Had Hawk Moth managed to fix it? Or was he just that desperate to risk the health of whoever was underneath that transformation? Mayura snapped her fan shut, her skirt billowing in the hot winds of the burning tower.

“Welcome back, Cat,” Mayura said.

“No more excuses,” Hawk Moth called. He landed a hard blow with his cane to Ladybug’s ribs that knocked her flat on her back. “Take Ladybug’s Miraculous, Adrien. Now!”

Chat Noir gripped his staff tightly, eyes darting between the three Miraculous holders and Marinette.

“There are three of us now,” Mayura said confidently. “We will take Ladybug’s Miraculous and this will all be over. Hawk Moth’s wish will become reality.”

Beneath Chat Noir’s feet, the tower groaned and wobbled.

“Hurry up,” Hawk Moth taunted.

“Chat!” Ladybug protested.

Hawk Moth planted his foot on her chest and she grappled against it, casting her yoyo quickly over a beam and then hooking it around his ankle to yank him off. With the extra leverage of her yoyo, she gained ground quickly. In a few more seconds, she would break free.

Marinette strained against the ropes binding her. “Chat!”

Chat Noir shook his head to clear it. He leaped into action. He dodged Mayura, vaulting over her to land on the other side of Marinette. He slashed the rope with his claws and the metal beneath gave way like warm butter. He caught Marinette when she stumbled, but suddenly Ladybug was in front of them.

“No, Chat!” Ladybug protested. “Help me!”

The tower tilted dangerously under Chat Noir’s feet. Marinette slid sideways with a yelp, dragging Chat Noir by the hand. Ladybug slipped as well, pushed back by Mayura’s approach, and Chat Noir fumbled to catch her. Hawk Moth watched, his hands resting lightly atop his cane, smirking as Adrien tried to save both.

In an instant, Mayura dove around Ladybug and grabbed Marinette by the bicep. Marinette’s bare fingers were sweat-slick and she was jerked away from Chat Noir despite the texture of his gloves. Mayura pulled Marinette over to the section of ruined railing, pushing her towards the void of space.

Marinette reeled, her free arm stretching out in a pitiful attempt to stabilize herself. She muffled a scream of fear.

“No!” Chat Noir shouted.

Hawk Moth lunged for Ladybug’s earrings, the point of his cane shining.

Chat Noir intercepted Hawk Moth with his staff, pushing Ladybug behind him. His eyes darted between her and Marinette.

Mayura thrust Marinette closer to the edge of the platform.

Marinette stifled a scream as her foot slipped into empty air. Only Mayura’s grasp kept her from falling. “Chat!” she shouted. “Help me!”

“Chat, no!” Ladybug said again. She spun her yoyo into a shield, keeping the fire and Hawk Moth back. “This is our chance. We have to get back the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. Then, this will all be over.”

Mayura smiled behind her fan. All she had to do was let go and Marinette would plummet to her death. It would take less than a second.

Chat Noir’s eyes darted between Marinette and Ladybug, between Hawk Moth’s smile and Mayura’s painted fingers. He didn’t have the time to—

The tower tilted again, groaning as the overheated bolts snapped

Simply, Mayura let go.

Marinette had nothing to grab. She shrieked as her second foot went over the edge. Her palms hit the platform hard, digging in, trying to hold on, clawing desperately. For a moment, she hung—suspended, grappling against the hot metal—but her fingers slipped. She met Adrien’s eyes as she went over and terror swelled inside him.

She screamed as she plummeted.

Chat Noir dove after her.

Mayura tried to stop him, leaping into his path, but Chat Noir deflected her with a whirl of his staff. She grabbed ahold of it, trying to wrench him back, but he just let it go. He didn’t even look to see if Ladybug was alright against Hawk Moth. His boots hit the edge of the balcony and he kicked downwards, launching himself after Marinette. He could see her below—falling what seemed impossibly fast. Her blue eyes were watering, her dark hair was wild, and her face was white with horror. She met his eyes, mouth parting as though to speak. The wind stole whatever she was going to say.

“Chat!” Ladybug shouted.

Ladybug planted both feet against Hawk Moth’s down-swinging cane and somersaulted backwards. Her yoyo snared the broken railing and she snapped herself out of the fray. Mayura grabbed for her but was an instant too late. Ladybug slipped through her fingers and streamed after them.

Chat Noir reached Marinette, the free fall seeming to take minutes rather than seconds. Chat Noir pulled her into his arms and she clung onto him with her arms and legs. He turned them in the air, prepared to take the landing with his body. He wasn’t sure if his suit would protect him from this height—or her for that matter—but he had lost his staff and he had to at least try. Marinette had been kind to him, she was precious to him, she was—

Marinette sobbed breathlessly. Her fingers bit into his shoulders and her heels dug into his back.

Above them, Ladybug suddenly appeared. She flew over the edge of the broken railing and streaked towards them, her body streamlined and her face lit with determination. Chat Noir almost smiled. Ladybug hurled her yoyo and caught them both, jerking them all together with a snap of her wrist.

“Lady—” was all Chat Noir managed.

Ladybug gripped his shoulder blindly as she threw her yoyo at the Eiffel Tower, catching a beam. Chat Noir grabbed her out of habit, muscle memory telling him to hold on tight as she swung them all to safety only inches from crunching on the pavement. They landed hard underneath the tower, cast in heat and shadow all at once. Pain lanced through Chat Noir’s legs as he took the brunt of the landing, unable to roll to take the force with Ladybug against his back and Marinette in his arms. He stumbled over Marinette’s feet, doing all he could to hold her up. Ladybug’s chest heaved for breath. Little sparks rained down on them and the tower groaned piteously.

“Thanks,” he gasped at Ladybug.

She smiled tightly, eyes straying to Marinette.

“Chat,” Marinette began. Her pale face was streaked with soot, her hair was loose, and her eyes were bloodshot. “Thank god. You’re here.”

Chat Noir cupped her face in his palms, tilting her head this way and that with concern. “Are you okay?”

Marinette gripped his wrist and started to nod.

Ladybug grasped his elbow and tried to turn him away. “Chat, no,” she said sternly. “She’s not real.”

Chat Noir’s heart stopped. “What?”

“She’s an amok,” Ladybug told him. “She’s not real. She’s a sentimonster.”

“Ladybug’s lying,” Marinette said suddenly. “She’s the fake. I saw Mayura make her.”

Chat Noir studied Marinette and then Ladybug in turn.

Ladybug looked the same as always, practically unruffled though out of breath from the fight. Her suit was immaculate despite the raging fire and her hair was tamed in its usual style. Where she gripped his elbow, her hands were steady. She had been here, fighting Hawk Moth and Mayura for who-knew-how-long without him. He trusted her, but…

Marinette was wearing her usual outfit, though her bag was missing. She was injured, scraped and burned in places, smudged with soot all over. There were rope burns on her wrists and forearms. However, she seemed just the same as his fearless classmate always was. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something happened to her. He knew Hawk Moth was targeting her because she was important to him.

“You have to believe me,” Marinette said. “Ladybug isn’t real.”

“Chat,” Ladybug insisted. “I’m your partner. You have to trust me. This isn’t Marinette.”

Chat Noir lost his chance to decide when Mayura landed gracefully between the legs of the Eiffel Tower. She flicked open her fan, peering at them over the ridge of fluffy white feathers. She whipped it out and a massive gale developed before her. The tornado of wind tore towards them. Ladybug struck out with her yoyo and anchored them to one of the metal supports. Chat Noir locked her and Marinette together in his arms, using his chin to turn Marinette’s face into his chest. The wind buffeted them, pounded against them, sucked all the air from their lungs, and whipped stinging debris into their faces. All around them, Chat Noir heard the whoosh of fire even as the heat drained away.

Then, abruptly, the wind stopped. They landed hard in a heap together on the cracked pavement. Mayura was standing in the same place, smiling beatifically. The fire had been put out, the air sucked forcefully away from it, though the Eiffel Tower was still in a hideous blackened state. Ladybug wrestled to her feet and whirled her yoyo into a shield just as Mayura catapulted herself at them.

Hawk Moth swept in from above, landing just behind them. Marinette yelped and dragged on Chat Noir’s arm. Hawk Moth had his cane in one hand and Chat Noir’s staff in the other. Until Chat Noir could reclaim his weapon, they were sitting ducks. If he used his Cataclysm, he wouldn’t have time to save Marinette or help Ladybug. He would change back into Adrien, right here in the middle of the battle.

Hawk Moth tsked and spun his cane across his gloved fingers. “Still holding out, are you, Adrien?”

Chat Noir tensed, shuffling Marinette behind him and backwards.

Could Hawk Moth really be his father? It still seemed impossible, despite Adrien’s own thoughts. He tried to pick out Gabriel’s features in Hawk Moth’s face, in the line of his nose or the sharpness of his smile, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring to fore the image of his father’s smiling face—only Hawk Moth’s crooked grin.

“You can’t possibly think you can fight me while protecting someone defenseless. You can’t even protect yourself,” Hawk Moth said poisonously. “Your only choice, if you want to keep that girl alive, is to join me against Ladybug. Bring me her Miraculous, give me yours, and you can leave with your precious Princess.”

Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder at Marinette, then at Ladybug. She was holding her own against Mayura, but the owner of the Peacock was incredibly skilled. Adrien wondered absently who she was—especially if his father was Hawk Moth. It was clear that she would soon have the advantage over Ladybug, too say nothing of how Ladybug would fare if Hawk Moth eliminated Chat Noir and joined the fray. However, Chat Noir was unarmed. If he wanted to be of any help, he first had to get his staff back.

“Marinette,” he said under his breath as he shifted into a fighting stance.

“Oh,” Hawk Moth remarked. “Stupid boy.”

“I need you to run as far and fast as you can, okay? Don’t look back. Don’t worry about us. Just run,” Chat Noir told her.

Marinette made a strangled sound of protest.

Chat Noir shifted his weight and lunged towards Hawk Moth, claws extended. They weren’t half the weapon that his staff was, but it was all he had at his disposal. Maybe if he could catch some of the exposed skin on Hawk Moth’s face, he could buy enough time to get his staff back.

Smoothly, Hawk Moth hurled Chat Noir’s staff at Ladybug while she fought Mayura. The staff tripped her up, catching her legs and taking her feet out from under her. She went down with a cry of alarm and it was all the time Mayura needed. Sweeping out her hand fan, another hideous gale bloomed between them. The raging wind swept both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s staff away, slamming them into the support of the tower and holding them there with the force. Mayura turned towards Marinette.

Chat Noir tried to redirect and that moment of hesitation gave Hawk Moth an opening. Hawk Moth grabbed his wrist, snapped his weight around, and pinned Chat Noir’s arm painfully behind his back. A stifled cry escaped his clenched teeth. He tried to plant his foot against Hawk Moth, but he had no room to maneuver. His arm felt about to break.

Marinette ran.

For a moment, Adrien thought she would escape to the relative safety of the watching paramedics, police, and reporters. He saw Nadja pushing forward as though to assist Marinette, her microphone forgotten though the cameraman was still filming. His heart caught, straining with worry, behind his ribs as he watched. She was fast, hair flying and legs pumping, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Mayura caught up to her, grabbed a fistful of her loose dark hair, and jerked Marinette backwards.

Chat Noir heard Marinette scream and the sound lanced through him.

“No!” he shouted. “Let her go!” He tried to wrest free of Hawk Moth’s hold, but the bones in his wrist groaned at the pressure. “Please,” he said, “don’t hurt her.”

“So much drama,” Hawk Moth remarked. “Just like a model.”

The words ran cold down Adrien’s spine.

“I’ll just take your Miraculous myself.”

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir reacted instinctively, desperately. The pure destructive energy swelled in his hand, making it impossible to take the Miraculous forcefully from him.

Hawk Moth laughed lowly. “Now what, Adrien?”

Mayura had Marinette by the hair, the girl’s head wrenched backwards painfully. She tucked her fan under Marinette’s chin, a simple feather-lined threat. She could break Marinette’s neck in an instant—the strength of a Miraculous wielder against the frailty of a civilian.

The gale still raged, pinning Ladybug to the Eiffel Tower. She was gripping Chat Noir’s staff and her yoyo, trying to shield herself with her arms as the wind stung at her.

“No,” Chat Noir pleaded.

“Choose,” Hawk Moth said. “Or I’ll choose for you.”

Chat Noir glanced between them, his heart in his throat. If this Ladybug was a sentimonster that meant the real Ladybug was out there still. If he let Hawk Moth take his Miraculous, it would be that much harder for Ladybug when she arrived. If Marinette wasn’t real, he had nothing to lose and he could focus on helping Ladybug once Hawk Moth’s gambit failed. However, if Marinette was herself and Hawk Moth hurt her, Adrien would never be able to forgive himself for watching her die when he could have prevented it. If Marinette was part of Hawk Moth’s plan, if she wasn’t an amok, if Ladybug wasn’t real, if his Lady was on her way…

Hawk Moth’s hand tightened around Chat Noir’s wrist painfully.

Mayura walked steadily closer, her dark eyes glinting behind her veil.

“Chat!” Marinette screamed in fear.

Desperate, Adrien made the only choice he could think of. He wedged the ring off his finger with his thumb and slipped it into his palm. When the flash of his transformation blinded Hawk Moth and Mayura, he wriggled free and threw the ring as hard as he could.

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	8. No (Choice): Part II

I now have a Facebook Page if anyone is interested. I'm kind of testing it out by amassing all the things people have made or drawn for me over the years there. I'm debating posting the books I read there as a regular person, but... ah, does anyone really care?

XXX

Marinette’s eyes stung with the force of the wind. All around her, the Eiffel Tower groaned in agony. Chat Noir’s staff suddenly disappeared from her hand the same moment she caught a flare of green light from the corner of her vision. Her heart stopped and adrenaline surged through her muscles.

“Chat!” she shouted, though her voice was lost in Mayura’s ferocious wind. “No!”

Trapped in Mayura’s embrace, Marinette saw her own face smirk.

The wind died down when Mayura flinched away from the light of Adrien’s transformation.

In that moment, Ladybug got her legs underneath her and sprang towards her partner, her enemies, and her doppelganger. She saw the glint of darkness, of magic, of cat-green eyes, and reached to grab Chat Noir’s Miraculous without thinking. He had thrown it to her—to Ladybug. The metal hummed against her palm like something alive. Warmth and strength flowed through her, soaking into her bones and heart.

Hawk Moth had Adrien’s arm wrenched behind his back, his grip threatening to break the bones in Adrien’s wrist. Familiar green eyes lit with relief on Ladybug’s face. He had made the right choice, Adrien realized, and didn’t admit to himself how close he had been to making the wrong one. Faux-Marinette’s expression was disappointed and Mayura’s grip on her sentimonster loosened.

Then, Ladybug was with him. She wedged her foot between Hawk Moth and Adrien, pried the villain off with a well-placed kick to the face, and catapulted them both away. When they landed, she had Adrien in her arms. He was warm and as light as a feather. His arms circled her as naturally as her own had held onto him.

Awed, he breathed out, “Ladybug?”

Marinette glanced down at him in her arms and smiled. “Well done, kitty,” she said softly.

Then, blinding light exploded from her hand where she was still holding the Miraculous of the Black Cat.

“No!” Hawk Moth screamed. “Don’t use it!”

The light washed out from Ladybug, cascading over everything like a tidal wave.

Time stopped.

Paris was wiped away.

Warm brightness enveloped them.

Ladybug and Adrien were together in the void.

Gingerly, Ladybug set him on his feet but refused to let go of his hand. From the veil of light, shapes and figures began to emerge. Others who had made wishes on the paired Miraculous, she realized. They didn’t come into being, remaining on the outskirts as ominous shadows though Marinette didn’t feel any ill intent from them. She watched them and then looked down at the ring in her palm.

Adrien looked at her quizzically, as though he wasn’t seeing everything she was.

“It’s okay,” Marinette told him.

He tilted his head, green eyes wide in the light. He was truly handsome, though his face was pale and lined with exhaustion.

Marinette wanted to make everything better for him, for her partner, for her kitty, for her friend.

“Is that your wish?” came a voice. It was neither male nor female, neither loud nor soft, neither welcoming nor frightening.

Regardless, it startled Marinette and she looked around for the source of the voice. “No?” she asked.

There was a moment of silence.

Marinette imagined that she could hear the world breathing. She realized that she couldn’t hear Adrien.

“Do you have a wish?” the voice asked.

Marinette remembered what Master Fu had told her. Everything had a price, even or perhaps especially wishes. “I don’t know,” she said. “Should I?”

“All humans do,” the voice said. “Hawk Moth wishes to revive his comatose bride. Mayura wishes to see the people around her happy. Chat Noir wished to be accepted. What does Ladybug wish for?”

Marinette looked down at the ring in her palm and then at Adrien. He was still smiling at her, head tilted as though listening to a distant melody. Abruptly, Marinette wondered if he was real and clutched his fingers. He responded to her touch, squeezing back gently with a small smile. Soot was streaked on his cheekbone like a bruise.

“If I make a wish, what will happen?” she asked.

“The world will make it right.”

“Make what right?”

“Whatever you wish for. All must stay in balance.”

“So, if I wish to take back the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous, what will happen?”

“They will be returned,” the voice said, “but something else will be lost.”

“What?”

“Something of equal value.”

Marinette looked again at Adrien. “What are the Miraculous worth?”

“An empire or a pebble,” the voice offered which wasn’t much of an answer.

Marinette supposed that was the point. If it was easy, everyone would do it. “And what if I don’t make a wish?”

All around them, the light wavered. Bits of Paris peeked through the veil.

“That would be fine,” the voice said.

“Then, I’m not going to make a wish,” Marinette said. “I’ll get the Miraculous back with my own power.”

“Very well,” the voice said.

The light began to fade as though the sun was setting. Marinette knew her reprieve was short. She rolled the ring between her fingers, lifted Adrien’s hand, and slipped it back into place. Light flared over him, washing down until Chat Noir was standing at her side again. His lips moved, as though shaping a question, but Marinette still couldn’t hear him. The warmth and power was ebbing from her body along with the light. Yet the point where she held Chat Noir’s hand blazed like an ember. She squeezed his fingers and he returned the touch.

‘My Lady?’ his lips said.

She nodded.

All at once, the light was gone. Noise rushed in. Paris was screaming, the Eiffel Tower groaned as it leaned, reporters and police were shouting. Hawk Moth cursed. Mayura reshaped her sentimonster with her bare hands, pulling and shaping Fauxnette’s muscles and passing her a massive sword. Together, the trio turned to face Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette couldn’t help but think of Mayura’s wish—happiness for the people she cared about. Was that so wrong?

“You fools,” Hawk Moth raged. “You had all that power and you didn’t use it. You could have had anything!”

Ladybug whirled her yoyo.

Chat Noir lengthened his staff.

“If you’re not going to use your Miraculous, then give them to me!” he shouted.

As one, Ladybug and Chat Noir somersaulted backwards until they were away from the dangerously-unbalanced tower and the ring of first responders alike. Hawk Moth continued lunging after them, shrieking and shouting. The tip of his cane cracked the pavement between Chat Noir’s feet and then whipped past Ladybug’s face. They dodged deftly, in sync now that they had a goal again.

Adrien felt light, felt warm, felt safe at her side.

Hawk Moth howled as he raised his cane like a sword and skewered the air inches from Ladybug’s face. Chat Noir darted into the space that he left, putting his weight on the cane and forcing Hawk Moth back a step. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mayura and Fauxnette approach. Mayura’s face was pinched and she looked drawn. Reshaping the sentimonster had taken strength from her.

Fauxnette, however, was just getting started. She lunged forward to support Hawk Moth, lashing out with her oversized sword. Chat Noir leaped onto it, pressing the sharp blade deep into the pavement and keeping his footing while Ladybug advanced on Hawk Moth. He extended his staff to catch Fauxnette in the chest, forcing her backwards until she had to let go of the sword. With a snarl, she rolled up her sleeves and clenched her fists.

Ladybug used her yoyo to snare Hawk Moth, reeling him in like an oversized fish. Fauxnette rushed to help, but she was unarmed now and Chat Noir held her off easily. Mayura stopped trying to stagger towards them and whipped out her fan, summoning another gale. It wasn’t even close to the power it had before. It ruffled Ladybug’s hair and stung her eyes as it tore past them.

Mayura fell to her knees, gasping for breath.

Fauxnette glanced between them and then turned back to her creator.

“It’s over, Hawk Moth,” Ladybug said.

“It’s not over!” he shouted. He was bound on his knees before her. “I have to bring her back!”

“You can’t,” Ladybug told him. “Every wish has a price.”

“I don’t care about the price. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it!”

“What if the price is your son?” Chat Noir asked.

Hawk Moth stiffened.

There, at the corner of his tightened mouth, Adrien saw his father. It was true, he realized.

“It is worth it?” Chat Noir asked.

“Yes,” Hawk Moth breathed. “She’s the light of my world. There’s no point if she isn’t with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug said.

“No!” Mayura shouted. “Don’t!”

Ladybug grasped the Butterfly Miraculous at the base of Hawk Moth’s throat and pulled it free. The transformation disappeared.

Gabriel Agreste knelt at their feet, his cheeks shining with tears. “Adrien,” he said. “Your mother—”

Fauxnette helped Mayura to her feet, half-dragging half-carrying her towards them.

“He did it for you, Adrien,” Mayura said. “He did. He wanted you to be a family again.”

“That’s enough, Nathalie,” Adrien said. The name rolled off his tongue easily, but once it had, he saw that no one else could hold the Peacock Miraculous. “It’s over.”

“The Peacock Miraculous is broken,” Ladybug said. She stretched out her hand. “You’re doing too much damage to your body using it. You need to take it off.”

Nathalie looked between Ladybug’s hand and Gabriel’s defeated form.

“Fight them!” Gabriel shouted. “You can still win. You can—”

Nathalie removed the Miraculous.

Fauxnette disappeared, leaving behind a single white feather.

Chat Noir caught Nathalie before she hit the ground, her legs unable to support her any longer. She was shaking all over from exertion.

“Thank you, Adrien,” she said softly. “I… I’m sorry.”

Chat Noir eased her to the warm stones, helping her sit.

Ladybug weighed the two Miraculous in her hand. They were so small to have caused so much strife. It almost didn’t seem fair. She looked at Adrien, her eyes and mouth holding a question.

He nodded.

Ladybug unspooled her yoyo.

Gabriel lunged at her, both hands outstretched.

Chat Noir snared him, using his enhanced strength to hold back his father. It was all at once incredibly easy and impossible.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Chat Noir hadn’t realized that Ladybug must have defeated the akuma before he even arrived. He wondered what Hawk Moth’s final akuma had been, but he supposed it didn’t matter. The healing light washed all over Paris, mending the Eiffel Tower and cleansing all the damage. A collective breath went out of the city.

“This is your fault,” Gabriel hissed at Adrien. “If you have only listened to me, you stupid boy—”

Chat Noir winced.

Ladybug bound Gabriel with her yoyo again, spun him away from Adrien, and marched him to the waiting police. Roger rushed to meet her, cuffs at the ready. Nathalie was collected on a stretcher by the paramedics, though her dark eyes were torn between following Ladybug and Chat Noir and Gabriel Agreste.

“Kitty?”

He turned to face her. “Later,” he said. “Please, just… later?” Suddenly, his bones felt filled with lead.

She looked the way he felt. “Come home with me?”

He nodded and removed his staff from the small of his back.

Together, they left the perfect façade of the Eiffel Tower behind. Ladybug was too tired to run so they made their way slowly across the rooftops. Chat Noir followed her, uncertain of where they were going. He stayed at her side and tried not to look over at her, but couldn’t help it. Their shoulders brushed. Wordlessly, Ladybug took his hand. Then, they made the final leap and landed on Marinette’s balcony.

“What?” Chat Noir asked. “This is…”

“My house,” Ladybug said. “Come inside.” She popped open the hatch, dropped down onto her loft bed, and patted the space beside her. 

Chat Noir climbed down after her, cautiously settling his weight beside her on the bed. The mattress dipped. It smelled like warm bread and vanilla and strawberries and Marinette.

With a sigh, Ladybug released her transformation and caught Tikki in her cupped hands. Marinette blinked at him, a small frown stealing across her pretty face. Her blue eyes were just the same as Ladybug’s were—open and earnest and so kind that it almost hurt. “Are you upset that I didn’t tell you sooner?”

Adrien hastily released his transformation, cradling Plagg to his cheek. “No, no,” he assured her. “I knew it was dangerous. I knew it wasn’t time. I’m just…”

“Surprised?”

“No,” he said softly. He held Plagg in one hand and reached for hers with the other. He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I’m glad it’s you. I’m so glad it’s you, but… my father…”

Marinette nodded. She reached out and enveloped him in her arms.

Adrien turned his face into her neck, but felt oddly unable to cry. His father—his own father—had tormented him. His father had been ready to take his friends, his Miraculous, his life. Gabriel had been willing to pay anything, even Adrien, to get his wife back. It was impossible to understand, but those were the facts. At least, Adrien thought as he squeezed Marinette tight, he wasn’t alone this time.

…

When Sabine had seen Marinette on the news, roped into a dangerous battle atop the flaming and destroyed Eiffel Tower, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. She had checked Marinette’s room, but it was empty. She had called and called, but Marinett’s phone had gone directly to voicemail. Tom had headed to the scene to offer whatever support he could, to be there if something happened, to be there if the worst happened, but Sabine hadn’t been able to bring herself to go. She stayed home with the television turned off and prayed for the first time in years.

When she heard the thump on the rooftop, she didn’t think much of it. However, something told her to go check. What if it was Ladybug, returning her daughter’s body? What if it was Chat Noir, here with condolences? She knew Marinette and Chat Noir were friends. Her heart squeezed and her breath came short.

Gathering her courage, Sabine rose from her knees. She climbed the steps to her daughter’s loft bedroom and eased open the door to Marinette’s room. It looked as she remembered, as it had just hours before when she had searched for Marinette in a panic, certain that the heartbreaking image on the news couldn’t be real. It was a paradise of pink and projects, the bedroom of a girl on the cusp of adulthood, with her daughter’s fingerprints all over it.

Now, one thing stood out. Collapsed in a tangle of limbs on the bed were two soot-smudged teens.

Sabine recognized Marinette immediately by her crop of dark wild hair. Relief so potent that it sent her to her knees crashed through her.

It took her a moment longer to recognize the mussed blond head beside Marinette’s, but then she did. How fitting, she thought.

Sabine approached quietly, but the two didn’t stir. They were passed out from exhaustion, arms around each other. If she’d had any further doubts about their identities, they would have been assuaged by the two strange creatures slumbering on the pillows beside the teens’ heads. Ladybug and Chat Noir were here and they were safe. Marinette and Adrien were safe.

Sabine dried her eyes, took a deep breath, and carefully picked a warm blanket off Marinette’s chaise. She draped it gently over them, tucking it around their shoulders and finally giving into the temptation to smooth the hair off Marinette’s forehead. Then, she did the same for Adrien.

His warm brow wrinkled in his sleep, as though uncertain.

Sabine withdrew and descended the stairs back to the bakery. She called Tom and told him, “Marinette’s here. She’s safe. She’s—she’s Ladybug.”

Tom was silent for a moment, breathing hard on the other end of the phone. “Then…?” he began.

Sabine didn’t know what he was going to say. “Chat Noir’s here too,” she said. “Adrien is…”

Tom drew in a breath. “Adrien’s father was Hawk Moth all along,” he told her.

Sabine gasped. She glanced at the ceiling, as though she could see them through it. “Come home,” she told her husband.

“I’m on my way.”

“We need to cook something,” Sabine said. “They’re exhausted. They’re asleep.”

“I’m on my way,” Tom said again.

Sabine nodded. Only then did she turn on the television and watch the recap of what had transpired only an hour earlier. Nadja’s face was white beneath her makeup and her eyes were red-rimmed as though she had been crying, but she recounted the details of Hawk Moth’s final flaming akuma, Ladybug’s fight, Chat Noir’s arrival, and the revelations that stopped the world in its tracks.

XXX

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	9. It's (Not) Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, due to the overwhelming number of people that question the climax of this story. I thought I would just answer the two most common questions once and for all.
> 
>  **Question:** Why didn't Adrien just ask Marinette and Ladybug a question so he would know which one was real?
> 
>  **Answer:** Here's how I played it out in my head and the reasoning behind it. So, imagine you're Adrien. Your dad might be Hawk Moth, he also might not be. Adrien's schedule is packed with classes and school and superhero work. Adrien is starving on a model diet, he's exhausted from fighting, he's stressed out beyond belief. He can't talk to his friends or his father, he can't get out of this situation, he's trapped and being forced to betray someone he really loves. He has to make some impossible choices.
> 
> Then, he wakes up and is immediately thrown into this scenario that is literally on fire. The Eiffel Tower is burning, Marinette is in danger, Ladybug is saying Marinette isn't real and vice versa, Hawk Moth is threatening him, Mayura is out to play [for the first time in this story]. He doesn't really have time to play Twenty Questions with Hawk Moth or Ladybug or Marinette. He just has to go with his gut. So, I hope that helped you understand my thought process behind Adrien a little better. I think, in real life, none of us would have been able to make a good choice under that pressure. [What single question would you even ask someone to determine if they were a fake anyway?]
> 
>  **Question:** Why didn't Ladybug say something to Chat Noir so he'd know she was the real one?
> 
>  **Answer:** Marinette is running on a high level of stress throughout this story as well. By the time Adrien arrives on the scene, Ladybug had already defeated Hawk Moth's final akuma and has been fighting both Hawk Moth and Mayura without backup. The Eiffel Tower is burning, the civilians have all been evacuated to a safe distance, and Ladybug is holding her own. She's exhausted at this point.
> 
> Then, Adrien arrives. Marinette knows that Chat Noir is Adrien, but Adrien doesn't know that she's Marinette. Now, under extreme duress, how should she slip Chat Noir a secret only Ladybug knows about him without revealing herself as Marinette in front of Hawk Moth? Especially since Ladybug has always kept Chat Noir at arms length. She trusts him implicitly, but they don't have a secret handshake nor to they spend much time together. Marinette has firmly established her desire to keep her superhero and civilian life separate, which we've seen Chat respect so it makes sense that Ladybug wouldn't have many things to say to him.
> 
> So, I hope that helps everyone understand by I played out the climax the way I did. [Besides, if Chat Noir had figured out who the real one was right away, what would have been the point of the big climactic battle? It would have been like taking the One Ring to Mordor if it wasn't evil and scary. That's kind of the whole point, you know.]
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Well, my job is now officially closed due to the apocalypse [or plague, whichever you prefer].

XXX

Marinette roused groggily, uncertain of what exactly had woken her. She lay in her bed for a moment, eyes half-closed, when she became aware of her stomach rumbling. She groaned, aching all over despite the Miracle Cure, and pried her eyes the rest of the way open. For a moment, she thought she saw sunlight. Then, she realized that she was seeing Adrien’s golden hair. He was asleep in her arms, his face inches from hers, breathing shallowly. His brow was scrunched like he was having a nightmare.

Marinette gently touched his cheek, whispering, “Adrien.”

He woke with a start, gasping for breath. “My Lady,” he murmured. Then, he shut his eyes against his emotions. “Marinette. It was all real then.”

She nodded slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

They lay in silence for a little while, listening to their kwamis breathing, warm and safe with each other. The sun was setting beyond Marinette’s windows, casting Paris in a glow not unlike fire. Marinette almost went to the window with concern before she remembered that it was over. Hawk Moth was defeated. They had reclaimed the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. She breathed out and her bones seemed to collapse. She shut her eyes, feeling Adrien’s warm breath on her face, his soft hands on her waist. She wanted to sleep for another thousand years.

However, Adrien’s stomach growled next.

“Hungry?” Marinette asked.

“I can’t even think about food right now,” he said, but his stomach snarled again. After a moment, he relented, “Maybe a little.”

Marinette sat up and realized there was a warm blanket tucked around them. She didn’t remember getting it. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go down. My parents are probably cooking dinner.”

Adrien nodded, but his expression was frozen.

She wondered which word had upset him—parents or dinner.

“Adrien?”

He startled. “Coming.”

Adrien reached to pick up Plagg, but hesitated. He didn’t need to take Plagg everywhere with him anymore. Hawk Moth and Mayura had been defeated. That part was over. Marinette didn’t reach for Tikki, but she did shrug into an oversized warm black sweater. She dug out a matching red one and offered it to him. Adrien pulled it on, snuggling into the warm plush fabric. He almost brought it to his face and inhaled, but appeared to catch himself at the last moment.

“Thanks,” he said instead.

Marinette’s heart ached for him. Chat Noir and Adrien had both been tormented by Hawk Moth, forced to make impossible choices, battered and bullied, all alone in their struggle. How long had Adrien been without comfort? Marinette led him downstairs, vowing to get him something to start filling the void.

“Maman,” she called as she descended the stairs. “Papa?”

Sabine and Tom both looked up with surprise when Marinette stepped into the tiny kitchen. It was impossibly warm and scented with a thousand spices. She breathed deep, mouth watering and stomach growling anew. Behind her, Adrien pulled up short with a gasp. Every available surface of the kitchen was covered with platters of food. Tom had made his famous Chicken Pot Pie, Sabine had steamed dumplings and fried eggrolls, they had prepared cookies and a chocolate cake. A quiche steamed on the stovetop. A bowl of mashed potatoes and caramelized carrots sat on the table, covered with clear wrap. There was enough food to feed an army.

Tom broke the silence first. He practically dropped the cookie sheet he had been removing from the oven and swept his daughter up in his arms. “Marinette!” he said. “You’re okay. I was so worried when I saw you on the news.”

For a moment, Marinette fumbled. Did her parents realize she was Ladybug? Did they think she had just been in danger? But no, there was no way her parents hadn’t gone to check on her when they saw her on the news. They had to know that she had been gone and she was here now and she wasn’t hurt and…

Sabine put aside her own mixing bowl and moved towards Adrien. He tensed at her approach, eyes wide like he wasn’t sure if he should flee or stand his ground. Letting him see her coming, Sabine gently drew Adrien into a hug. He was stiff for the barest of moments before he crumpled into her, mournful eyes looking at Marinette over her mother’s shoulder. Sabine stroked his hair.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Sabine murmured.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” Marinette said into Tom’s shoulder.

“Later,” Sabine said softly. “First, eat something. You both look about to drop.”

Tom ushered Marinette and Adrien to the table and began laying things out. Marinette hadn’t comprehended just how much she had scared them if they had stress-cooked this much food. However, her growling stomach couldn’t complain. Adrien stared at the food on the table, his plate empty in front of him. Marinette sat beside him and began making her plate. When he still didn’t move, she placed a few morsels on his plate. His eyes snapped to her face.

“Eat something, Adrien, please,” Marinette said.

Tom poured two glasses of milk for them, then two glasses of orange juice.

Marinette stopped him before he could get more. “Thanks, Papa,” she said. “Please, sit with us.”

Sabine sank into her seat across from Adrien. She placed a few things on her plate and picked at them. “So,” she said conversationally, “have you seen any good movies lately?”

A wry laugh escaped Adrien’s lips.

Tom sat across from Marinette and took a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes for himself. “I have,” he supplied. “I just watched the latest superhero movie!” He made a few vigorous punches across the table. “Of course, you two must think it was pretty lame compared to what you can do.”

Marinette choked on her sip of juice.

Sabine smiled across the table at them. “Who’s your favorite hero, Adrien?”

His green eyes strayed. “Ladybug, of course,” he said.

Marinette felt a blush creeping up her neck and did her level-best to tamp it down.

“How about you, ma chérie?” Tom asked.

Marinette swallowed, unable to help the ache in her chest that took root when Adrien looked away. “Shadow Cat,” she said.

Tom coughed loudly, startled.

Sabine laughed.

Adrien hazarded a glance at her.

“And Chat Noir,” she continued. “I mean, how could he not be my favorite?”

Adrien’s mouth pulled into a sweet smile. “Yeah?”

“You could say I have a type.” Marinette returned his smile, idly pushing a carrot around her chicken pot pie.

Sabine took the opportunity to heap food onto Adrien’s plate.

He smiled timidly at her, his knuckles white around his fork. Then, he started to eat and had to stifle a moan of delight. His cheeks went pink and then the tips of his ears. “Sorry,” he said hastily. “I’m so hungry and this is—it’s so good.”

Tom patted him on the back. “Eat up,” he said.

“Enjoy,” Sabine said. “Have as much as you like.”

“But save room for dessert,” Tom added.

Adrien swallowed, the corner of his lips pulling into his first real smile.

Marinette had never been so grateful for the easy way her parents took life as she was at that moment. Their worlds had been turned upside-down, they just found out their daughter was Ladybug, they just found out Adrien was Chat Noir who had for all intents and purposes been fighting Ladybug, and they focused instead on the simplest most important parts of life. Marinette ate happily, watching Adrien come alive with the food. She had often thought that Adrien was too thin, that Chat Noir was too skinny, that she wanted to say something to both of them. At least, now, she could be there for him.

…

After the two teens were stuffed to the gills with good food and dessert, Tom sat them down on the couch and perched on the coffee table between them and the television. It was running on mute in the background, but Sabine shut it off. She came to stand beside her husband, hands folded neatly.

Adrien tensed beside Marinette.

“Now,” Tom said, “We know you’ve had a stressful day, but you need to let people know that you’re safe, Adrien.”

“We’re not making you leave,” Sabine said quickly. “In fact, we insist you stay here tonight, but you need to call Lieutenant Roger. He’s organized a manhunt for you, Adrien.”

Adrien let his breath out slowly. “You’re right,” he said. He pulled out his phone, but the battery was dead.

Marinette fetched a cable and sat with him while it got enough juice to turn on. There were several missed calls and texts from Nino and Alya, both checking in and offering hideouts if he needed them. Chloe had called upwards of one hundred times, starting off self-centered and morphing into concerned as time when on. A few calls were from unknown numbers, probably the police station.

Adrien dialed up the hotline for his own Missing Person notification and asked for Roger Raincomprix.

Sabrina’s father was a lot of things, but he was first and foremost a good cop. He answered immediately, his voice all business. “How can I help you?”

“Hi, Lieutenant,” Adrien said softly. “This is Adrien Agreste.”

“Oh thank god,” Roger gushed. “Are you safe? Where are you? I’ll send a car right away.”

The relief that came into Roger’s voice made a stone swell in Adrien’s throat. How was it that Marinette’s parents and an almost-total stranger were more concerned for him than his own father ever was? He swallowed thickly and looked away from Marinette’s earnest face. “I’m okay. I’m with a friend.”

“Okay,” Roger said softly. “It’s very late. Can you tell me where you are? I’d like to station a car outside to protect you from the press and we can go through all this in the morning, okay?”

“Sure,” Adrien said and gave the address of the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery.

“They’re good people,” Roger said. “Just let them know that I’m going to have some cruisers in the area. We’ll talk in the morning, okay, Adrien?”

“Okay,” Adrien managed. He hung up and just stared at his phone as the charging icon flashed.

“Adrien?” Marinette asked.

He looked up at her. “Roger’s going to have some officers drive by. I guess the press is going crazy.”

Marinette nodded and reached to squeeze his hand. Chat Noir’s identity had been revealed live on the air and his father was Hawk Moth. There weren’t any more sensational stories than that. She imagined it would be quite a while before the scandal died down, if it ever did. She was lucky that her identity as Ladybug hadn’t been leaked.

Tom appeared in the threshold. “Marinette,” he said. “Why don’t you get Adrien some clean clothes? You have to have some pajamas that are close to his size. Your mother is running a bath for him.”

Adrien turned to face Tom, a protest on his mouth.

“Come on,” Tom said firmly. “You’ll feel a world better once you wash all that soot off and get some rest.”

Adrien nodded.

Marinette led him to the bathroom, which was wafting scented steam into the hallway. Sabine was adding bath salts and lighting candles. She smiled and stepped aside so Adrien could adjust the temperature of the water. Marinette rummaged through her drawers for some spare pajamas and emerged semi-victorious with a pair of Ladybug pajama pants and a white t-shirt that she had purchased as the base of a project. She carried both down to Adrien and set them on the counter.

“Just,” she said, “call if you need anything.”

Adrien nodded, but he still looked shell-shocked.

Marinette hoped that it wasn’t just from her family’s simple acts of kindness. She closed the door and headed downstairs to see her parents.

As predicted, they were waiting for her in the kitchen, but there was no lecture. Sabine hugged her tightly and Tom put his arms around both of them. He squeezed tight and Marinette felt her mother sniffle.

“I’m sorry,” was all she could think to say.

Sabine rubbed her back.

Tom pressed kisses into her hair.

“My brave girl,” Sabine murmured.

“I love you,” Tom said.

Marinette burrowed her face into her mother’s shoulder and cried.

…

When Adrien emerged from the bathroom, he looked all at once better and worse. Exhaustion laid heavy on him but color had come back into his face. While he was in the bath, Marinette had dragged extra pillows and blankets into her room. She had made up the chaise, in case he wanted space, and also put clean sheets on her bed, in case he didn’t. She showered quickly and returned to her bedroom in clean pajamas. Adrien was perched on her chaise, looking out of place but more alert. Tikki and Plagg were settled in his cupped hands, chatting quietly and snacking between them.

Marinette hung up her towel and grabbed her brush. As was her style, she began ripping the comb through the tangles in her short dark hair.

“Hey, hey,” Adrien said softly. “Be nice to yourself.”

Marinette slowed her frenzied combing and looked at him inquisitively. “What?”

“May I?” he asked.

She ventured over to him, bare feet silent on the floor. She sat beside him and could feel the heat rolling off his body.

Passing Tikki and Plagg into her lap, Adrien took the brush and began to work it through the tangles. He worked quickly but steadily. His gentle fingers brushed her scalp and he smoothed his palm down the silk of her hair. Marinette shut her eyes and leaned into his touch. Chat Noir had once helped her fix her pigtails, impossibly tender, mindful of his claws. The ministrations went a long way towards aligning the two boys in her mind. All too soon, Adrien was finished though his hands lingered on her shoulders.

When Marinette glanced at him, she saw that his eyes were drooping.

“Adrien?” she asked.

He blinked at her.

“Are you ready for bed?”

“Yeah,” he murmured.

“I made up the chaise for you, if you wanted space,” Marinette offered. She gestured to the sheets and pillows around them. “Or, if you wanted,” her cheeks began to flush of their own accord, “you could, um, sleep with me—I mean, not sleep with me, sleep with me—just sleep with me. I mean!”

Adrien chuckled softly and gripped her shoulder. “I’d like that,” he whispered. “But, won’t your parents mind?”

Marinette glanced at the trapdoor to her loft. She recalled waking up in Adrien’s arms, Sabine having tucked them in without rousing the two exhausted heroes. “They won’t mind tonight,” she said truthfully. “We’ve been through a lot, especially you. If you want comfort, I’m here for you.”

Adrien smiled.

Together, they gathered the pillows and blankets off the chaise, carried them up the steps, and settled them on Marinette’s bed. Marinette shuffled her stuffed cat aside to make room and turned down the blankets. Adrien sat down, waiting for her while she turned off the lights. When she came to her bedside lamp, he made a little strangled sound—like an aborted question. Knowingly, Marinette draped a scarf over the shade to cast the room in a soft pink glow.

“Thank you,” Adrien murmured.

Tikki and Plagg settled on the pillow above their heads, speaking quietly in a language Marinette had never heard before. She wondered what they were talking about. She wondered if something like this—someone cruel and power being the parent of a Miraculous holder—had ever happened before. She hoped that it hadn’t.

Marinette climbed into bed beside Adrien, turning on her side to face him. Adrien did the same, tucking the blankets adorably under his chin. His green eyes were luminous in the glow of the lamp, his mouth pinched, his face drawn. Marinette reached for him, draping her arm over his back on top of the blankets. She pulled him close, tucking her face into his shoulder and resting her cheek on his hair. His breath shuddered out of him, a painful tremor that wracked his entire body. Beneath the blankets, he circled her in his arms.

Marinette expected to feel him start crying. If she was in his position, she would have fallen apart once the light were turned out, but in her arms, Adrien’s breathing slowly evened out. His muscles softened and he held her snugly. Before long, his deep breathing lulled Marinette to sleep. She closed her eyes and dreamed of the white light of their combined Miraculous. She dreamed about Hawk Moth’s wish, about Adrien’s mother, about Chat Noir’s suffering. In her sleep, she squeezed him tighter.

Adrien roused when she hugged him. Her embrace dragged him from his own nightmares of his father, of Hawk Moth, of his mother risen from the grave with the magic of their combined Miraculous. He looked up at her face, limned in soft pink light and felt the first prickle of tears. He swallowed the lump in his throat and burrowed into the blankets.

“Kid,” Plagg said gently.

Adrien lifted his eyes to his kwami.

Tikki was sleeping as soundly as Marinette, but Plagg was alert. He gently extricated himself from Tikki’s arms and floated down to curl against Adrien’s cheek. Plagg didn’t say anything as slow salty tears rolled down Adrien’s cheeks. He didn’t sob or shake. He felt past that, too tired to really cry.

“Plagg,” he asked, “did I do the right thing?”

Plagg thought for a moment and then asked, “What would you have done different?”

Adrien’s gaze flicked back to Marinette’s sleeping face.

“Fought Ladybug?” Plagged asked. “Abandoned Marinette without knowing that she was a sentimonster?”

Adrien shook his head to both.

“Let Hawk Moth win? Accepted a wish from the Miraculous, even if I told you that it would cost someone else their mother?”

Adrien inhaled sharply.

“You did the right thing, kid,” Plagg said gently. He settled against Adrien’s ear and began to purr, little claws kneading a scrap of blond hair that fell over Adrien’s cheek. “Get some sleep. You deserve it.”

Adrien absently tucked the covers higher around Marinette’s shoulder and closed his eyes. This time, he didn’t have any nightmares.

…

Tom and Sabine had breakfast waiting when Marinette and Adrien stumbled downstairs. The news was on low in the background and the world was waiting outside the windows. The police presence must have tipped off the press because there was a virtual army waiting outside the bakery doors. Tom took it in stride, insisting that anyone who loitered on the bakery’s property needed to buy something or leave.

“Nathalie called for you,” Sabine explained to Adrien. “Apparently, you father has steps in place in case something like this happened.”

“And my father?” Adrien asked. “Did he call for me?”

Sabine’s expression was enough of an answer.

Adrien called Nathalie from his cell phone.

Nathalie answered on the first ring. “Adrien,” she said. He could hear concern in her voice and a heart monitor beeping in the background. “Are you… alright?”

“As much as I can be, considering,” he told her. However, some small part of him was warmed by her worry. Even if his own father hadn’t called, had tormented him, it seemed that Nathalie had always cared in her own way. “Are you okay? The Peacock Miraculous didn’t hurt you too much, did it?”

“Not badly. I’m a little short of breath and my heart has developed a small murmur,” Nathalie said, “but the doctors are keeping me for observation. I should be alright.”

“That’s good,” Adrien said.

The conversation waned, hanging in the air like a foot about to step over the edge. The monitor beeped regularly, Nathalie’s breathing was raspy, and Adrien could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. Sabine bustled around him, trying to be supportive without hovering.

Nathalie cleared her throat. “Adrien, your father…” She hesitated.

Adrien listened as she picked up, examined, and discarded several meaningless words.

Finally, she settled on the facts. “Gabriel has measures in place should something happen to him. Control of his assets and his company will be turned over to you when you reach eighteen. In the meantime, I will act as your guardian and handle the finances of both the household and the company in a way that has your best interest at heart.”

The words hung between them. Adrien was both relieved and somehow felt colder.

“Adrien?” Nathalie ventured. Her voice was small, like that of a girl’s. “I understand if you don’t want to see me again. I can make arrangements—”

“No,” Adrien said. “It’s fine.”

Nathalie was quiet for a long moment.

Adrien just listened to her breathing. He didn’t know what to say.

“For what it’s worth,” Nathalie said into the space between them, “I just wanted to see you both happy. That’s all I wanted.”

Tears pricked Adrien’s eyes. He believed her. Under Gabriel’s iron control and rigid structure, Adrien had always felt a tendril of light from Nathalie and Gorilla. They allowed his friends to sneak in to see him, they looked the other way when he snuck to the kitchen for snacks, they checked on him while he was struggling with lessons, they brought him hot soup when he was sick, they showed how much they cared—and that was more than he could say for his father.

“Thank you, Nathalie,” Adrien said. “You… just focus on getting better. I’m staying with Marinette so I’m safe. I’m fine.”

“Adrien,” Nathalie murmured. “Your father—”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Adrien said. “Not now, not yet.”

“Right,” Nathalie agreed. “Of course.”

Marinette clambered noisily down the stairs behind them. She had dressed in clean clothes and carried her shoulder bag with Tikki and Plagg inside it. She raised her brow inquisitively when she saw Adrien on the phone and Sabine hovering nearby. Behind them, Nadja was talking on the television and there was a loop of footage of Gabriel Agreste being loaded into a police car.

“I have to go, Nathalie,” Adrien said softly. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes,” Nathalie agreed. “Be safe.”

Adrien hung up and pushed his phone into his pocket.

“What did she say?” Marinette asked.

“That everything’s taken care of,” Adrien told them. “My father had steps in place to protect his company and me in case he was ever caught.”

“That’s good,” Sabine said. “That means you get to stay in Paris.”

Marinette smiled thinly. “Adrien?”

“I know it does,” he murmured. “And knowing that he had these things ready means he… must care about me, right?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Sabine breathed.

Marinette put her arms around Adrien and Sabine did the same. They held him tight as the tears finally came.

…

The entire Dupain-Cheng family insisted on coming with Adrien to the police station and the hospital. Tom pulled the car around front and ushered them briskly through the crowd outside the bakery into it. Sabine took the passenger seat and Marinette did her best to block their view of Adrien with her body. It felt uncannily like fighting an akuma all over again. Adrien found her hand and squeezed it. Marinette didn’t let him let go.

They pulled up at the police station first. Roger had barricaded the reporters off the front steps though he couldn’t do anything about the photographers. He helped Tom spirit everyone inside and slammed the doors. Tom and Sabine went in search of something edible, as though they hadn’t just stuffed both teens with too much home-cooked food. Marinette refused to let herself be pulled off Adrien for the rigmarole of statements, paperwork, reports, and press releases.

When they finished, Roger offered, “Would you like to see him? We still have him in holding.”

Adrien stiffened. His cold fingers tightened around Marinette’s.

“Do you?” Marinette asked.

“You don’t have to,” Roger continued, “if you don’t want to. I just thought I’d offer.”

“No,” Adrien said finally. “I’d like to see him.” To Marinette, he said, “Alone. That is, if you don’t mind.”

Thought Marinette was loathe to leave him, she waited with Roger in the hallway.

The little interview room was as barren and clinical as they all were on television. There was a stainless steel table bolted to the floor and a hard-backed chair on either side of it. The overhead fluorescent lights hummed and cast a sickly pallor over Gabriel’s face. The temperature seemed to drop by degrees as Gabriel’s icy eyes turned towards his son.

Adrien sucked in air.

Gabriel smiled at him, but it was Hawk Moth’s smile—too tight and with too many teeth, wicked and cold, tinged with madness. “Hello Adrien,” he said.

“Father,” Adrien managed.

“Sit.”

Adrien did. It was too hard to break the habit of obedience.

“Did you bring it?”

Adrien’s heart skipped. “The Butterfly Miraculous?”

Gabriel studied him a moment.

Adrien felt like an insect under a microscope. “I didn’t,” he said.

Gabriel looked over Adrien and his icy eyes fell greedily on Adrien’s finger where he still wore the Miraculous of the Black Cat. “Did you bring that for me?”

Adrien pulled his hands off the table and put them in his lap. He clenched them to stop shaking. “No.”

Gabriel hissed. It sounded like air was escaping him. “You didn’t come to help me?”

“I came to say goodbye.” The words were out before Adrien could stop them.

Gabriel’s gaze lit sharply on Adrien’s face. “What?”

Adrien pushed away from the table. “Goodbye, Father.”

Gabriel jerked against the cuffs. “Adrien, wait—”

Adrien didn’t run, but he didn’t walk either. He slammed the door.

Marinette was at his side immediately. “Adrien?”

“Leave,” he said.

She tensed.

“I want to leave,” he continued. “I want to go. Now.”

“Okay,” she said soothingly. “I’ll have Papa bring the car around.”

Adrien nodded. “Please.”

Marinette let go of his hand and ran for her parents.

Roger stood with Adrien in the hallway, his big hands lifting and dropping uselessly by turns.

Tom and Sabine bundled Adrien into the car once again and Marinette pressed herself against his side. From her bag, she offered him a snack but he declined. He stared out the window. In the distance, he could see the peak of the Eiffel Tower. He imagined it burning.

“Last stop today,” Tom said as they pulled up in front of the hospital. “Nathalie has some things for you. Then we can go home or take you home. Whatever you like, Adrien.”

Mechanically, Adrien let Marinette pull him from the car and lead him into the hospital. There were police officers stationed at the door to Nathalie’s room, but they moved aside to admit Adrien and Marinette. Adrien was grateful that she hadn’t left his side this time, though her parents chose to wait in the hallway. After his treacherous meeting with Gabriel, Adrien didn’t know what to expect from his father’s assistant.

However, Nathalie hurried from the bed when she saw him. She threw back the covers and swung her long legs down. Her hair was lank and loose, she wore some pink scrubs, and her feet were bare. It was the most unprofessional Adrien had ever seen her and she immediately hugged him. She pressed him close and breathed into his hair. “You’re okay,” she said urgently. “I knew you were, but… oh, I was so worried about you. Thank goodness, you’re okay.”

Adrien hung in her arms, shocked.

Marinette made a little sound of surprise.

Nathalie found herself and moved to withdraw. She cleared her throat with embarrassment.

Adrien didn’t let her get far. He hugged her in turn and said, “I’m glad you’re okay, too.”

Nathalie hesitated only a moment before she embraced him again. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“So am I,” Adrien murmured.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think that this was how he wished his reunion with his father had gone. Gabriel no longer cared for his son, not when his plan to have his wife back had failed, but Adrien had other people who loved him. He had Marinette and her parents, he had Nino and Alya, he had Chloe, and he had Nathalie. It would be enough.

XXX

I have not quite finished the final chapter so let me know what else you would like to see besides some closing fluff for our poor heroes.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	10. My (Lady) Love, My (Kitty) Love

Oooh, final chapter! I thought I would go ahead and post this early since I'm home for the Plague of 2020! How's everyone's quarantine going anyway?

XXX

It took months for people come to terms with the truth that Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth and that he had been defeated. The fact that their every negative emotion was no longer at risk for turning them into mindless villains helped. It took longer for them to learn to live with the reality that Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir. Tabloid reporters looking for a scoop hounded him constantly. Of course, there was the small matter than he was now able to transform and take off vaulting over buildings at the drop of a hat. Reporters stopped approaching him because he would just disappear with Marinette or Nino or Alya in his arms.

Tom and Sabine continued to enforce their rule that any reporters caught on their property had to buy sweets. As a result, it kept all but the reporters with the deepest pockets and steadily-widening waistlines across the street. With the extra money they made, they started up a second fund for Marinette should she decide that Ladybug and Chat Noir needed a break from all this drama.

Gabriel Agreste's testimony was much like the man himself—narcissistic and cold. He insisted that his plan to destroy Ladybug had been his own, that he had worked with Nathalie only because he couldn't wear two Miraculous, that he would have used anyone else if she hadn't been available, that Adrien had no idea, that he had threatened Chat Noir regardless of learning his identity. Of course, he hadn't wanted his son to know that he was Hawk Moth. Of course, he hadn't wanted the world to know either of their identities.

“But Ladybug,” he sneered, “has ruined that. Now both I and my son are paying the price.” Despite the cuffs, Gabriel still looked proper, but there was madness in his eyes. “She had the two Miraculous in her hands. She could have made a wish. She could have had anything, she could have had everything—”

“Every wish has a price,” Ladybug told them.

Gabriel's confession and insistence that it had all been his idea took a lot of the heat off Nathalie, especially once the world learned that the damaged Butterfly Miraculous had been slowly killing her. How could she have let a man like Gabriel, like Hawk Moth, put that on someone innocent? It was better that she do it herself. As a result, Nathalie Sancoeur was let off with several fines, deep years of community service, and a slap on the wrist. She looked properly chastised, if not completely exhausted.

Adrien couldn't bear to see what sentence his father had gotten. All he knew was that he wouldn't be seeing Gabriel for a very long time—both in prison or out of it. Though Chat Noir had given an exclusive interview to both Nadja Chamack and Alya, there didn't seem to be an end in sight to the questions. Despite countless assurances, people just couldn't imagine that Chat Noir, the hero, hadn't known his own father was Hawk Moth.

To them, Ladybug had asked incredulously, “Have you even seen Star Wars?”

Ladybug took interviews and questions beside Chat Noir whenever she could and alone even more frequently. She did everything in her power to shape the flow of information favorably for Adrien and Chat Noir alike. They had been put in a rough and terrible spot and he had suffered enough. Slowly, the tide of questions and accusations ebbed.

As did the popularity of Agrest Fashions, despite Nathalie's best efforts.

“We need to rebrand,” Nathalie told Adrien and Marinette one night. She was seated at the farthest end of the long dinner table in the Agreste Mansion.

Adrien couldn't help his surprise that now that his father was in prison, Nathalie ate dinner with him every night that he wasn't at Marinette's or Nino's. She always sat far from him, as though she thought he would be repulsed, and she tried to talk about things that interested him. She was there and that was more than Gabriel had ever been.

Marinette pushed a stray bean around her plate. She glanced at Adrien from the corner of her eye.

Adrien swallowed. “Rebrand Agreste Fashions?”

Nathalie patted her lips with a napkin. She had lost weight, but her skin finally looked flushed and healthy. “Yes, your father's name is...” she trailed off. “Just think about it, okay? Please?”

Adrien nodded.

They finished dinner and went their separate ways. Marinette tried not to immediately pummel Adrien with ideas. She could see that the thought of letting go of his father's name, the very last thing he had of the man, was troubling him. They played video games until late into the night until Marinette had to transform into Ladybug and head home.

For her part, Marinette didn’t think things could get much better. It seemed all her dreams had come true at once. Paris was safe, Hawk Moth’s and Mayura’s Miraculous had been reclaimed, Chat Noir was free, and she was able to carry on a conversation with Adrien without spluttering. She leaped easily through her city, watching the stars and the lights flash by. She slipped into her home, changed back, and headed downstairs where her parents were waiting up with cookies and cocoa.

“Hey Maman, Papa,” Marinette greeted. She accepted a hug from them and, just for a moment, her throat closed as she thought of Adrien. His father—Hawk Moth—she fought sudden tears.

Sabine hushed her, stroking her hair.

“Marinette,” Tom said softly, “we should talk... about all this.”

Sabine rested her cheek on Marinette's hair.

Tom squeezed them both in his big arms. “But not tonight,” he said softly. “Tonight, let's just watch a movie. Who wants popcorn?”

Adrien arrived by car the next morning to pick Marinette up for school. Though his handsome face was tired, he smiled with the light of a sun when Sabine and Tom greeted him. Adrien has lost so much, but in losing final parent, he had gained countless freedoms. He was able to drop the forced lessons that he didn’t like, though he kept fencing and Chinese. He could dedicate more of his time to school without the constant threat of Gabriel taking it or his friends away from his civilian life. Without the threat of Hawk Moth, he was able to spend more time with his friends.

Adrien eliminated the diet he was forced to be on in order to model and scheduled half as many shoots. Marinette had expected him to relish his free time, but he spent most of it with her and her family, even going so far as to help out in the bakery. Nathalie let him do all of these things without so much as a raised eyebrow. Thinking of Nathalie's wish, Marinette wondered if Nathalie had wanted this for Adrien all along. Slowly but surely, happiness began to fill Adrien's life.

The school day flew by. Gorilla drove Marinette home where Adrien hugged her goodbye.

“Will I see you later?” Marinette asked.

“Do you want to?” Adrien asked shyly.

It burned in Marinette's heart that he thought she didn't want him around. Hawk Moth, to say nothing of Gabriel Agreste himself, had done so much damage to him. “Of course,” she answered quickly.

Adrien beamed. “Then, I'll see you later.”

Marinette pressed a little kiss to his cheek before disappearing inside. She helped out in the bakery for a few hours, had dinner with her parents, showered, and retired to her room. She spent some time bowed over her sketchpad, just in case today was the day Adrien wanted to talk about rebranding Agreste Fashions.

“Mari,” Adrien greeted after he dropped in through her balcony skylight. His transformation released as he landed and Plagg darted to meet Tikki. The two tumbled through the air, tittering.

Marinette jumped from her desk and embraced him quickly.

Catlike, Adrien turned and curled and pressed himself into her hands. Early into their relationship, Marinette had thought it was a tendency of his Miraculous, cat traits leaking into him and spilling over into his day-to-day life. However, the truth was sadder. Adrien soaked up every hug and caress like a starved pet because he was ravenous for affection. His father—Hawk Moth—hadn’t had time to coddle his son, to treat him like a person rather than an asset, to truly love him the way someone as soft and kind as Adrien deserved to be loved.

Marinette always took extra time to hold him, tangling the fingers of one hand into his hair and feeling him shudder in delight. “Have a nice night?” she asked.

“I did,” he told her. “I gave two reporters the slip. One even tried to follow on a fire escape.” He laughed at the memory, turning his face into the curl of her fingers. “How’s the project coming?”

“Almost done,” she said cheerfully. She had it folded up on the edge of her desk, hidden in a basket.

“Can I see it yet?”

“No! It’s for Alya’s birthday and I don’t want you to blab what I’m making her.”

Adrien thrummed in his chest. It was supposed to be a displeased sound, but it was more like a purr.

To prove a point, Marinette dug her fingers through his hair and scratched behind his ears.

“I’m not a cat,” he grumbled, but didn’t even try to pull away from her. He shifted his head, turning her fingers away from his ears and sending them tunneling through his golden tresses.

Marinette laughed. “You could have fooled me,” she said.

He huffed and his breath plumed on her lips.

Marinette became aware that their faces were very close. Adrien’s green eyes seemed to fill up her world, sparkling and shining inches from her face. She caught her breath, almost blurted something, and swallowed the senseless words. Adrien’s warm hand moved softly along her cheek. She felt his thumb touch the corner of her lips and couldn’t help the way her tongue snaked out to wet them. Adrien’s gaze caught on the movement.

“Mari?” he murmured.

She nodded.

Adrien dove in and kissed her. He kissed like Chat Noir, all fire and passion, unbridled joy and delight. He kissed like Adrien, soft and tender, warm and wanting, careful, so careful. Marinette dug her fingers through his hair and pulled him close. She wondered if he tasted Ladybug’s authority in her kiss. She breathed out and gentled, hoping he could tell how much she loved him. She had always loved him.

He made a little sound and cupped her face with both hands. He held her closer, sliding one hand around her back to press her flush to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding, racing against his ribs, or was that her own? She tentatively licked his lower lip and he opened his mouth eagerly for her. She deepened the kiss, looking for secret places that made him murmur.

Then, abruptly, Adrien tilted her around in his arms. He dipped her like an old-fashioned movie star, still kissing her.

Marinette giggled and broke away. “Adrien,” she said.

“What?” he asked innocently. “I’ve always wanted to try that.”

“Kissing?” she asked cheekily.

He rolled his eyes and threw himself down on her chaise. “You should come with me,” he said.

“Where?”

“On a run through Paris,” he said. “We’ve never had a chance to just enjoy our powers and we can now. We can enjoy a lot of things.”

Marinette caught his eyes and her face flushed. “Did you have someplace in mind?”

Adrien admired her rosy cheeks. “I can think of a few.”

Marinette called for Tikki and transformed. Once the flash of pink light faded, she found Adrien gazing at her. His green eyes were warm and deep and there was a faint smile on his full mouth. She wanted to kiss him again, but instead asked, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because you're beautiful,” he answered.

Ladybug flushed to match her costume. “I thought we were going out?”

Adrien transformed and sprang back up through the skylight. “We are.”

Ladybug followed him and eased the window shut behind herself. Chat Noir was poised on the railing, his tail twitching lightly. He held out his hand without a word and Ladybug slipped her fingers into his. He squeezed, glancing at her with luminous green eyes.

“Ready?”

She nodded.

Together, they sprang from the rooftop and vaulted through the Paris skyline. They moved too quickly for reporters and civilians to get a glimpse of them. They delighted in their powers, somersaulting and whirling, almost flying through the sky. The sun had long since faded and the stars twinkled. In the distance, the Eiffel Tower beckoned. They made their way there without seeming to realize it, or so Ladybug thought. Once they touched down on their favorite platform at the top, it became apparent that Chat Noir had set something up ahead of time.

A picnic blanket was spread out with candles surrounding it. There was a bottle of something bubbly chilling in a bucket and a covered picnic basket beside it. Chat Noir landed and smiled at her shyly. Ladybug stepped in beside him, taking a moment to appreciate the view and the setup.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Ladybug asked.

Chat Noir released his transformation. “I thought we could just hang out here and talk, you know, now that we don't have to worry about... our identities or Hawk Moth or...”

Ladybug changed back into Marinette and momentarily mourned that she was wearing her pajamas. Adrien wasn't dressed up, but he had put on jeans and a nice button-down shirt that brought out his eyes. He had planned this, had planned something special, and here she was wearing her ratty cotton pants and her tank top with the strap that wanted to slip down off her shoulder.

“Marinette?” Adrien asked. He had handed off a wheel of Camembert and a package of cookies to Tikki and Plagg.

She tore her gaze away from her clothes. “Yeah?”

Gingerly, he cupped her face and kissed her.

Marinette melted into his arms. She couldn't help but tangle her fingers through his hair, holding him close, breathing him in. They kissed for a long time, until they were both breathless and Marinette's legs felt weak. Adrien eased her down onto the picnic blanket and then set about lighting his candles. He popped the bottle and offered her a glass. It certainly looked like...

“Is that champagne?” Marinette asked suspiciously.

Adrien chuckled and showed her the label. “Sparkling apple juice,” he said. “Nathalie is cool and lets me do pretty much whatever, but she's not quite that cool.”

Marinette giggled.

“A toast,” Adrien said softly, “to My Lady. I couldn't have done it without you.”

Marinette tipped her glass to his with a smile. “My Kitty,” she said in response, “I'd be lost without you.” The bubbles and sweetness exploded on her tongue. She sipped her drink, watching as Adrien unpacked snacks from the picnic basket. She couldn't help but recall when he had given her the snacks he had hidden in his bedroom. At least he didn't have to hide anymore.

“I brought chips and cookies,” Adrien said, “and some sliced fruits and cheese. I wasn't sure what you'd want and—”

Wordlessly, Marinette peeled off her tank top and shimmied down her pajama pants. She stretched herself out, waiting for the moment that Adrien would turn his head and see her. She wasn't disappointed. His words dried up, his jade eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in surprise.

“Mari...?” he asked.

“Come here,” she beckoned. She still had her panties on and her nipples pebbled in the night breeze.

Adrien slipped closer, putting aside the picnic and his flute of faux-champagne. “You don't have to,” he began.

Marinette unbuttoned his shirt and slipped her hand inside against his soft warm skin. She cuddled up to him, skin to skin, and Adrien let out a sigh of bliss. His arms circled around her, holding her close. It was so familiar to be in his arms that Marinette couldn't help closing her eyes and burrowing into him.

His hands spread across her naked back, pulling her flush against him. They had laid together like this before, almost completely bare, just basking in affection, relishing that they didn't have to be afraid any longer. It was Marinette's favorite and she knew Adrien loved it too. She wrapped her legs around his waist, squeezing him tighter.

He let out a soft strangled sound. “Mari,” he murmured.

She rocked down against him. “Do you want to?” she breathed.

Adrien's eyes were heavy-lidded. “But...”

“Can you think of a better place or time?” she offered.

Adrien looked over her shoulder at the deep Paris night. “No,” he murmured.

“Then,” she began again. Her courage was waning. Did he not want her? But she battled her worries away. “Do you... want to?”

“Yes,” he whispered. “So much.”

Marinette pressed her core down into his lap and Adrien rewarded her with a strangled gasp. Together, they peeled off his jeans and Marinette pushed the shirt from his shoulders. She traced her hands along the contours of his chest and shoulders, feeling the heat of his skin and the line of his muscles. He was the most stunning thing she had ever seen, godlike in his perfection. Adrien palmed her breasts, staring up at her with eyes that reflected with the heavens, and she knew he felt the same.

“Do you have...?” she asked.

He nodded and fished through his jeans.

Marinette pushed him back against the picnic blanket, admiring him in the lights of the Eiffel Tower. She stripped off her panties and tugged down his boxers. His erection sprang free, weeping in its eagerness for her. Adrien looked embarrassed, but the sight only made Marinette's body burn. She felt more powerful than Ladybug like this, more wanted, more pure, more of herself in every way. She was soaking wet for him and she couldn't wait for him to feel it.

She tore open the condom, but her hands shook at she reached for him. Adrien steadied her, his hands gentle and warm on her wrist. Together, they rolled it on. Marinette felt the girth of it in her hands, between her fingers, slippery and warm as living velvet wrapped over steel. She hadn't realized how hard he would be—and all for her. She licked her lips and smiled at him. Adrien's eyes fluttered closed at her touch. He tipped his head back, throat and body completely exposed at her mercy.

Marinette lifted up and slipped into position. At the first touch of the head of him to her quivering core, Adrien moaned lowly and the sound raced along Marinette's spine. She pressed down, easing herself open and him inside. His hands came up to grip her hips and his entire body went taut like a bow. She gasped, letting her breath out slowly, as he filled her. He was thicker than he was long, opening her up as he had with his fingers on other nights they had alone. Marinette settled down, her thighs flush with his hips. The head of his shaft pressed against her womb, filling her to the brim.

She let her breath out slowly.

“Mari,” Adrien whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she assured him. “It's good. It's so good.”

He blushed, thumbs stroking over her hipbones.

“Can I move?” she asked.

“However you like,” he told her. Pink was high on his cheekbones. “But I might... I might not last long.”

Marinette pulled herself up, feeling the silken slide of him. Adrien groaned and his eyes slammed shut. His fingers gripped at her, guiding her back down. His head bumped inside her and it was enough to make her see stars. She tried again, faster. Adrien keened at the feeling of her muscles clutching around him. He didn't want to push her, but he couldn't help but tug at her hips. She went with him as easily as ever, working with him in tandem, the perfect team.

Before long, she was bouncing away with her head thrown back and her dark hair falling in waves down her back. Adrien opened his eyes and admired her, embedding his memory in his mind so thoroughly that he couldn't possibly forget. She was gorgeous, spectacular, stunning. Her body was limned in the outline of the lights behind her, the golden sheen falling along her breasts and belly and the place where they were joined so deeply that he couldn't be sure where she ended and he began.

She gasped softly, little aborted sounds that tunneled into his ears and heart. He cupped her breasts and felt her racing heartbeat behind his palms. At his touch, she looked down at him and smiled. It was the most loving thing he had ever seen, glowing and soft and just for him. He couldn't help it. He came on the spot, spilling out. He gasped, twitching, his hips sputtering to a stop as he could no longer match her pace. Marinette bounced a few more times before she realized and went still.

She cupped his face and drew herself down to kiss him, pressing her breasts into his chest while he softened inside her. Weakly, he slid out of her. His bones felt like jelly and his heart was full to bursting, but that was no excuse for leaving her. He rolled her over, spreading her out on the picnic blanket. She smiled up at him, sweat-slick and glowing, her hair mussed and her blue eyes sparkling. She looked about to speak, to ask what he was doing, so he kissed her instead.

Once she had melted, he drew away from her mouth. He kissed and suckled her neck as he worked his way down her body. Before long, she realized where he was headed and he felt her tense in anticipation. He gently parted her strong thighs with his hands, smoothing his palms over her sensitive skin. The scent of her arousal was heavy and mingled with his own.

Marinette's chest hitched as though she was going to protest.

Adrien didn't give her a chance. He fastened his lips to her button and sucked as hard as he dared, sliding two fingers into her.

Marinette almost screaming, pushing her knuckles against her mouth at the last second.

Adrien worked her open, fitting a third finger inside. He licked and sucked and nibbled her clit, pulling the oversensitive bundle between his lips and worrying it. He could feel her muscles clutching and clenching and vowed that someday he would make her feel like this when he was inside her. For now, for their first time, this was enough. It was enough to be together, to share pleasure, to share their bodies as well at their identities. Marinette's thighs trembled, closing around his head.

Adrien suckled more firmly, flicking his tongue against her in rapid strokes. He curled his fingers inside, searching for the place she had been aiming for when he was inside her. Before long, he pried a yelp of delight from her stifled lips and aimed to do it again and again. Marinette's toes curled into his back and her spine arched. It was all he could do to keep his pace, smothered between her thighs, but she was so close and he wanted her to feel everything he could offer.

Her muscles seized around him and her hips thrashed. Adrien eased off, letting her milk his fingers as he gasped for breath. He breathed hotly against her flesh and she shivered. Her baby blues fluttered open and she held open her arms for him, beckoning him up.

He settled against her side, spooned against her in all his glory. She stroked his back with the tips of her fingers.

“Adrien?” she began.

“Yeah?”

“I love you,” she said.

“And I love you, My Lady.”

She cuddled against him, their sweat drying in the night breeze. She sipped the bubbling juice and then kissed him. The two tastes mingled oddly, but Adrien didn't protest. He was hardening again just at her proximity and wondered if she was up for going again. Marinette felt his arousal against her side and smiled.

This time, he rocked into her from behind while she gripped the railing and looked out over the city that they had protected so many times. He kept his hand between her legs, fondling her pearl whenever he could. She tipped her head back into his shoulder, gasping and panting, baring her breasts to the entire city below. He came first, but continued to stroke her while he softened and was rewarded with her gasping his name while her orgasm raged through her body.

They laid down together again, sipping the juice and feeding each other snacks. When Adrien hardened a third time, it was slow and languid. They took their time, exploring each other, feeling how they fit together. Adrien had never felt so at peace as he did when connected with Marinette. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him close, clutching him, sharing his breath. The final time lasted much longer than the others and Adrien was able to have Marinette finish before him. She quivered all around him, warm and wet, and he didn't last much longer.

“Marinette?” he asked while they lay in the moonlight, basking in the afterglow.

“Mmm?”

“I was thinking,” he said, “about Agreste Fashions.”

Marinette blinked up at him. She had a thousand ideas to offer, but was currently too boneless to throw them out. She couldn't only look at him, satiated and warm all over.

“I wanted to call it 'Miraculous Fashions,' after everything we've been through,” he said. “And I'd like—I mean, if you wanted to—I'd like you to be our first designer.” He rambled even more than Marinette when she was nervous and seemed at risk of going on forever.

Marinette cupped his face and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I'd love that,” she assured him. “I have more ideas than you can even imagine.”

Adrien smiled and snuggled his face into her palm. “Yeah?”

“You and me against the world, Kitty,” she promised him.

Adrien dipped his head and kissed her again.

XXX

And we are finished! I feel like a lot of people were expecting me to really dive into the fallout of Adrien's identity being revealed to the world, but that was never part of the plan so—here, enjoy all the smut. I also had always intended for Nathalie to become Adrien's guardian at the end. My thinking is that Gabriel is such a narcissist that he's going to be all, 'It was my plan and no one else's and I forced her to help me because I can't wear two Miraculous and she never could have tried to take on Ladybug without my help, etc, etc.' It might be a little unrealistic, but hey, they're superheroes. Maybe Ladybug's word that Mayura/Nathalie was forced is enough to get her off with community service. So, enjoy that ending for what it is.

As always, there won't be a sequel, so don't ask for one. Thanks!

Questions, comments, concerns?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, due to the overwhelming number of people that question the climax of this story. I thought I would just answer the two most common questions once and for all.
> 
>  **Question:** Why didn't Adrien just ask Marinette and Ladybug a question so he would know which one was real?
> 
>  **Answer:** Here's how I played it out in my head and the reasoning behind it. So, imagine you're Adrien. Your dad might be Hawk Moth, he also might not be. Adrien's schedule is packed with classes and school and superhero work. Adrien is starving on a model diet, he's exhausted from fighting, he's stressed out beyond belief. He can't talk to his friends or his father, he can't get out of this situation, he's trapped and being forced to betray someone he really loves. He has to make some impossible choices.
> 
> Then, he wakes up and is immediately thrown into this scenario that is literally on fire. The Eiffel Tower is burning, Marinette is in danger, Ladybug is saying Marinette isn't real and vice versa, Hawk Moth is threatening him, Mayura is out to play [for the first time in this story]. He doesn't really have time to play Twenty Questions with Hawk Moth or Ladybug or Marinette. He just has to go with his gut. So, I hope that helped you understand my thought process behind Adrien a little better. I think, in real life, none of us would have been able to make a good choice under that pressure. [What single question would you even ask someone to determine if they were a fake anyway?]
> 
>  **Question:** Why didn't Ladybug say something to Chat Noir so he'd know she was the real one?
> 
>  **Answer:** Marinette is running on a high level of stress throughout this story as well. By the time Adrien arrives on the scene, Ladybug had already defeated Hawk Moth's final akuma and has been fighting both Hawk Moth and Mayura without backup. The Eiffel Tower is burning, the civilians have all been evacuated to a safe distance, and Ladybug is holding her own. She's exhausted at this point.
> 
> Then, Adrien arrives. Marinette knows that Chat Noir is Adrien, but Adrien doesn't know that she's Marinette. Now, under extreme duress, how should she slip Chat Noir a secret only Ladybug knows about him without revealing herself as Marinette in front of Hawk Moth? Especially since Ladybug has always kept Chat Noir at arms length. She trusts him implicitly, but they don't have a secret handshake nor to they spend much time together. Marinette has firmly established her desire to keep her superhero and civilian life separate, which we've seen Chat respect so it makes sense that Ladybug wouldn't have many things to say to him.
> 
> So, I hope that helps everyone understand by I played out the climax the way I did. [Besides, if Chat Noir had figured out who the real one was right away, what would have been the point of the big climactic battle? It would have been like taking the One Ring to Mordor if it wasn't evil and scary. That's kind of the whole point, you know.]
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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